


Straw Hat Vivi

by dottenator



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Blood and Violence, Gen, Haki, Minor Character Death, Nakamaship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2018-04-23 18:15:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 65,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4886821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dottenator/pseuds/dottenator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Opening her eyes, Vivi knew that it was September third, 1535, one week into the drought which would not end until Luffy defeated Crocodile. She wasn’t sure how she knew that, especially since the last thing she remembered was the Reverie in the year 1540.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>In a timeline where Luffy never dreamed of becoming the Pirate King, the only person who remembers his goal is Nefertari Vivi. She makes a promise, both to herself and the man who saved her country, to not rest until that dream is restored.</p><p>(Tags will be added as more chapters are posted)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is AU after Dressrosa, assuming that after defeating Kaidou Luffy takes his place as an Emperor.
> 
> A lot of influence and support came from my dear sister, [GemmaRose](http://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose), who is always ready to listen to my crazy ideas and help them become coherent stories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is AU after Dressrosa, assuming that Luffy takes Kaidou's spot as an Emperor after defeating him. (Well, that still might happen, but this is AU for other reasons too)

Vivi had heard that it was going to happen, but a part of her still couldn’t believe it when she saw the familiar faces across the courtyard. It was almost customary for delegations from less well-respected countries to hire bodyguards, and while unusual it was certainly not unheard of for those guards to be pirates. Even with that, Vivi was certain that this was the first time a delegation had hired a Pirate Emperor known for thumbing his nose at the world government.

“Remember, we don’t know them. Certain members of the marines are still suspicious after the, ah, incident three years ago, and it wouldn’t help anyone to get arrested at the Reverie.” Her best friend’s hand on her shoulder was always a comfort, and in fact more often than not necessary to keep her from running off to save the day in a way which might be counterproductive to future political relations.

“Of course you’re right, Kohza, but it would be rude not to introduce ourselves to the newcomers.” With that, Vivi slipped away from her guards and did her best not to look too eager as she went over to the delegation from Fishman Island.

“Your Highness, this is an unexpected pleasure.” The fishman bowed, and Vivi nodded at him before he turned to look up at the massive bearded man surrounded by pirates. “Your Majesty, may I introduce Princess Nefertari Vivi of Alabasta. She is here in place of her father, King Nefertari Cobra, as his health has deteriorated in recent years. Princess, this is King Neptune of Fishman Island.”

“A pleasure.”

Vivi allowed the massive king to kiss her hand, smiling with the ease of someone who had been doing this since she was a child. “The pleasure is all mine, Your Majesty. May I introduce the captain of my personal guard, Kohza? He is a dear personal friend as well, of course.”

Kohza gave a short bow to the foreign king, and Vivi silently begged him to pick up on the cue and introduce his own guard. Fortunately, while the merman remained oblivious, the advisor who had introduced them merely blinked twice before beaming at her.

“I’m certain you have heard of our own guard, given their notoriety.”

“Indeed. An unusual choice, to be certain.”

“Well, we thought it unwise to come with our own palace guard, so we turned to the heroes who saved our country last year.”

“Pirates, heroes? What an odd concept.”

“It is no secret that the Marines rarely help Fishman Island, so what’s the harm in turning to whatever means are available to save one’s country?” Kohza barely held in a snort, but Vivi learned long ago to do the same without any outward signs.

“And are these the infamous pirates who did that?” Everyone in the group turned to look at the nine people who stood in a protective semi-circle around Neptune, and all of them overheard the whispered argument breaking out between the captain and his crew.

“Nami? Nami, why is Vivi acting like she doesn’t know us?”

The redheaded navigator knocked him on the head with a tight fist, shaking the infamous straw hat. “You dumbass, don’t you remember? She has to pretend she has no idea who we are or she might get in trouble for associating with pirates!”

“But she’s associating with us right now, so what’s the big deal?” He pouted, and Vivi’s smile finally broke through the diplomatic mask she had been wearing ever since she left home.

“Hello, Mr. Straw Hat Luffy. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The black haired boy blinked before sticking out his hand and laughing. “Hi, Vivi! I’ve totally never met you before, and there’s no way we’re secretly friends, so there’s no reason not to start being friends right now, okay?”

Vivi laughed with Luffy, shaking his hand until he made his rubber arm wobble up and down like a flag in the breeze. There were two faces she didn’t recognize behind the man she had called her captain, as well as one who she still wasn’t sure she trusted, but in that moment all that mattered was that for the first time in three years she was laughing with her friends again.

* * *

“You did _what_?” Drinking with the Straw Hats was probably the best idea Vivi had heard since she arrived in Mariejois, and the stories of what everyone had been up to since they parted ways was well worth the possibility of a hangover in the morning.

“Not even kidding, Vivi. Lightning dude didn’t even see it coming. And Robin was able to read a Poneglyph, plus more mystery writing on the bell itself! It was so much fun, I wish you could have been there.”

Vivi wasn’t sure if she appreciated how Luffy kept sticking Robin’s accomplishments into the stories he told about their adventures. She still didn’t quite trust Miss All Sunday, but at this point that was more a flaw on her part than on Robin’s. If Luffy said she had reformed, then she had, and Vivi needed to let bygones be bygones.

After another round of drinks and ten fun stories about “how I joined the Straw Hat Pirates,” Kohza knocked on the door and insisted that the princess needed to get some sleep to be awake in time for the meetings the next day. As the pirates trudged out, ranging from tipsy to completely smashed, Vivi caught Robin’s arm.

“I’d like to talk to you, if you wouldn’t mind.” The archaeologist nodded at her captain, who gave Vivi a long look before yawning and turning down the hall, muttering about wanting Sanji to make him some meat for a nice midnight snack. After the door closed, Robin stood there for a few seconds, staring out into nothingness, and Vivi wondered if she was using her powers to sprout eyes in the hall and make sure that everyone got back to their quarters safely. She knew better than most people how dangerous the Straw Hats could be when intoxicated, but she also understood the urge to know that their mutual friends were safe.

After a full two minutes of silence, Robin’s eyes focused again on Vivi, and the girls settled down into comfortable chairs. “What did you want to speak with me about, Your Highness?”

Vivi took a deep breath, closing her eyes to organize her thoughts. She kept them shut as she talked, unwilling to see what the other woman thought about her words. “I’m still not sure if I trust you around them.” There was silence, and after what seemed like eternity Vivi decided that staring at the plush rug under her feet was a better plan. “You were Crocodile’s right-hand woman, and probably would have killed us if you had the chance.”

“I did have the chance. Multiple times, in fact. You know full well I could have snapped your neck in an instant the moment we met, and that the only reason Crocodile isn’t currently ruling the world with Pluton is that I didn’t. Did anyone tell you that we found it, by the way? Franky had the blueprints, and he burned one of the most dangerous weapons in the world out of existence rather than let it fall into the World Government’s hands. In a way, your father did the same thing when he collapsed that room with the Poneglyph.”

Vivi knew that Robin had lied in that underground chamber, had hidden Pluton from Crocodile and possibly saved all of their lives. Her father had told her the whole story of what had happened down there, shortly after Marineford when she had been desperate to think of anything but the pain her captain was going through. She knew that Robin was a good person, that Luffy would never have stormed Enies Lobby for her sake if she wasn’t, but she still had nightmares about Igaram’s boat burning off the shores of Whiskey Peak.

“Princess, I’m sorry.” Vivi finally looked up at that, and Robin’s face was as expressionless as it had been the day they met. “On the day Ohara burned, my friend Saul told me that I needed to keep smiling and laughing, because one day I would meet friends who would protect me and make sure I was never alone. I spent twenty years searching for those friends, and for those twenty years every single person I thought I could trust betrayed me for my bounty. I never trusted Crocodile, and he never trusted me, but I was safe with him for years, and he kept his promise to lead me to the Poneglyph. I’m sorry that the group which kept me safe destroyed your country, I truly am. But if you dare to insinuate that because of the wrongs I have done you, I am unworthy of being trusted with the lives of the people who I care about more than anything else in this world, then I’m afraid we’re going to have a problem.”

The two sat in silence again, and Vivi only spoke when she was certain her voice wouldn’t crack. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” She smiled, meeting the archaeologist’s eyes for the first time since they sat down. “In fact, with someone like you with them, I’m sure I’ll never have to worry about Luffy ever again.”

Robin smiled back at her, and Vivi held the door open as the pirate headed off to the room reserved for the fishman delegation’s bodyguards.

* * *

In retrospect, inviting a Pirate Emperor to the Reverie could only stir up trouble. Announcing where one of the most wanted men in the world would be for a whole week, even if he was untouchable by the marines for that time period, was a recipe for disaster. When Blackbeard broke down the door next to Vivi, the first thought through her mind was _Really? We were getting somewhere with that trade agreement._

“Straw Hat Luffy, we meet again! This time, nothing can stop me!” He laughed, loud and ugly, and Vivi regretted not packing her Peacock Slashers. Her father had insisted that it was bad manners, and Kohza had added that she would be perfectly safe as long as he was there to protect her, but clearly they didn’t expect a madman with a vendetta to come crashing in through the door and ruin everyone’s afternoon.

Before she could start brainstorming which diplomatic materials could function as impromptu bludgeons, a hand closed around Vivi’s head and lifted her out of her chair. She lashed out with her heels, but the pirate was holding her too far away from his body for her to do more than knock over a chair. Her ears were covered by Blackbeard’s massive fingers, so she couldn’t make out anything he was saying. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see all nine Straw Hat Pirates fuming and preparing to fight. She wondered how Blackbeard had known to use her as a hostage, or a shield, or whatever he was doing, since she was relatively certain that he wasn’t on the short list of people who knew what really happened the day Crocodile fell. It might have been a coincidence, but she wasn’t even the closest person to the door.

As the hand tightened on her skull, exerting more pressure than was probably safe, a massive impact knocked Blackbeard off his feet, and he dropped Vivi. She scrambled to her feet, slightly woozy and her ears ringing, to see Luffy’s signature straw hat sitting on the larger man’s stomach. What worried Vivi was that, despite having been clearly bested in a single hit, the man was grinning. He reached out one hand to hold the hat, and Vivi could tell that whatever he was about to do would be irreversible. Faintly, in the background, she could hear people screaming, and Luffy’s distinctive voice telling her to stop, but something drove her to keep going. As she stepped on Blackbeard’s coat, the man sat up, and she fell onto his lap as the world twisted around them.

It felt like she was falling, though there had been solid stone under her feet mere seconds before. She blinked, staring out into what looked like an endless expanse of stars as Blackbeard stared back.

“Hey, get off!” The pirate shoved Vivi, and she drifted away from him until the stars disappeared  and everything went black.

* * *

Opening her eyes, Vivi knew that it was September third, 1535, one week into the drought which would not end until Straw Hat Luffy defeated Crocodile. She wasn’t sure how she knew that, especially since the last thing she remembered was the Reverie in the year 1540. She sat up and looked around, recognizing her room in the palace, and then down to her side to see that she was not alone in the bed.

Next to Vivi, sleeping deeply, was Vivi. The other Vivi was significantly younger, not yet finished with puberty and without any of the muscle she got from her years as an assassin, which made sense if she was really five years in the past. If it was a week into the drought, then her younger self would be joining Baroque Works within the month. Vivi slipped out of bed quietly, noting that she was still wearing her outfit from the Reverie, and tiptoed over to her closet. Opening the hidden compartment in the back, she found her old Peacock Slashers hanging on a hook next to the outfit she donned to become Miss Wednesday.

Vivi reeled, almost unable to believe what she was experiencing. She was in the past, somehow, probably because of Blackbeard. That might explain why he said “this time” at the Reverie, and now that she thought about it Vivi wasn’t actually sure if he had. She remembered that, and attempting to take Luffy’s hat back but falling instead and ending up in the past. However, she also remembered him shoving her aside and Luffy knocking him out a window. She also remembered picking up a chair and slamming it into the back of Blackbeard’s head, knocking him unconscious and allowing the meeting to continue as if nothing had happened.

The only reasonable explanation was that Blackbeard had gained the ability to travel through time and relive moments, changing them as he saw fit. The question was, what had he been so insistent on getting at the Reverie? She remembered from one of the attempts, after being knocked halfway across the room, that Blackbeard had demanded that Luffy give him his hat. It seemed likely that that was also what he had said the third time, while she was unable to hear, but she didn’t know why he wanted the hat or why he had traveled back in time again as soon as he had it. There were so many questions that she didn’t know what to do, so Vivi took a deep breath and started to list what she _did_ know.

She was in the past. Her past self also existed, and appeared to be exactly as she remembered. She remembered the time she was from, even though it had yet to happen. Blackbeard had travelled back in time to change things. She gasped as a thought occurred to her. She could change the future.

Vivi thought furiously about all she had learned as a part of Baroque Works. Crocodile had led it from the very start, and without his leadership there was no way it could have advanced as far as it did. If she managed to get Crocodile arrested before he could make things in Alabasta worse, she could save her country before it was ever in danger. It would mean that she wouldn’t meet Luffy and his friends, but with a smile she realized that there were two of her now. The version of herself which was still young and innocent could grow up to be queen, and she could defeat Crocodile and go on to join the Straw Hat pirates.

Vivi left the room and went down the hall, not worried about guards since it would be months before they were stationed within the palace itself. She stopped in front of a storage closet, pulling it open to grab a large carrying bag and some clothes more suitable for the desert climate. She changed quickly, folding her formal attire from the Reverie into the bottom of the bag. With a whispered apology to Pell and Chaka, she shut the door behind her and returned to her bedroom. Her younger self was still sound asleep, and she went back to the closet to retrieve the Peacock Slashers. She slipped them on, giving an experimental flick of her wrist to ensure she still remembered how to use them. They sang through the air with ease, although since these were still prototypes she had to stop herself after only a few seconds to avoid cutting open her stolen clothes. She’d have plenty of time to practice on the way to Rain Dinners, and even more once Crocodile was behind bars.

Vivi looked back at the younger princess, struck by the surreal experience of watching herself sleep. After a second, she walked over to her desk, pulling open the drawer to retrieve a pen and a sheet of paper. She didn’t want Vivi to wake up to find her Peacock Slashers missing with no explanation, especially since this might be the last time she set foot in the palace once she started a new life as a pirate. She faltered at that thought, the weight of her plan sinking in. If she left home to become a pirate, she would have to abandon her identity as a princess. She would have to change her appearance or risk getting Princess Vivi arrested for Pirate Vivi’s crimes, and any contact with her father or friends could get them arrested for associating with a wanted pirate. Of course, that assumed she would be a wanted pirate, but once she joined the Straw Hats she was bound to get a bounty. After all, the Marines still thought Chopper was a pet, and even he had one.

Vivi stood at the desk for a long while before coming to a decision. An older Vivi, with memories and experiences this Alabasta would never be forced through, had no real place here. The best thing she could do for her father was let him be happy with the daughter he knew instead of saddle him with one who he might not even recognize. With that in mind, she leaned over the paper and began to write, using block letters to conceal her handwriting.

_Princess Vivi,_

_I have taken your Peacock Slashers with me to take on the leader of Baroque Works. I know that you are ready and willing to infiltrate their ranks and save our country, but you are young and innocent, and I am not. I will ensure that you do not have to sacrifice anything or anyone to prove the king’s innocence so that you may never have to know the horror of war or the pain of watching your people turn on each other. Please do not come after me._

She hesitated a moment before signing the letter. _Forever in your service, Straw Hat Luffy._

In at least one timeline, he deserved credit for saving her country. With one last look at the sleeping girl on the bed, Vivi left the room, closing the door softly behind herself.

She kept her hood up as she snuck out of the palace, using the passages she and Kohza had become familiar with as children. She let the final door slide shut behind her silently, refusing to look back as she walked out into the starlit city. She had made her choice, and she would stick to it. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the polished window of a store, and after looking around to make sure nobody was watching she pushed the hood back to reveal her hair.

Her long blue hair was her most distinguishing feature, and her unwillingness to cut it may have contributed to Miss Valentine recognizing her on Whiskey Peak. With a deep breath, she pulled out a Peacock Slasher with one hand, gathering her hair into a ponytail with the other. It took a few tries to get the string of blades to wrap around properly, but once they were in place she took a deep breath and pulled.

She dropped the handful of cut hair, at least a foot long and oddly heavy, into the nearest trash bin before returning to the window. Her head felt strangely light, almost as if it could fall off if she turned too quickly, and Vivi spent a few seconds just staring at her reflection. What hair remained was short, barely coming down to her chin, and she barely recognized herself. With a dry swallow, she turned and walked away, leaving the hood down. It was unlikely anyone would recognize her now, and the night breeze felt good on her newly exposed neck.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn’t too difficult to book passage to Rainbase, although she did have to sell her Reverie outfit to be able to afford it. She was certain that it was worth far more than what she had been paid for it, but that just meant more money for the vendor and her family, so she didn’t feel too bad. Nobody gave her a second glance, thankfully, although one older man asked if she was travelling alone. She made up a story about a fiancé, since announcing that she was on her way to arrest the beloved Sir Crocodile might garner more attention than she wanted, and he left her alone after that.  
  
Alone with her thoughts, Vivi began to consider what to do after freeing her country from the corrupt Warlord’s influence. She wanted to go straight to Windmill Village to meet Luffy, but at the same time that might not be a good idea. It was a very long journey to make alone, and she wasn’t sure how she would explain what she was doing there. _‘Hello, my name is Vivi, I’m a princess from the future and I want to help you be Pirate King!’_ That…  
  
She giggled to herself, remembering the glazed look on Luffy’s face right before he declared something a mystery. Honestly, it might work, because he was Luffy. But if it didn’t work, and he didn’t believe her, she wasn’t sure what she’d do. After an hour or two of looking out the window at the passing desert, it came to her: she could go to Skypiea, get some gold, and commission Franky to build the Sunny for her. Luffy would be unable to resist the amazing ship, and it would spare them all the heartbreak of losing Merry. She would need to be careful to avoid the wrath of the terrifying Logia who lived there, but she could cross that bridge when she reached it. In fact, if she got enough gold, she might even be able to help Nami buy her hometown back from Arlong before Luffy even needed to fight him! She pictured the ecstatic look on her dear friend’s face and smiled. It would be child’s play to convince her to join Luffy’s crew after that, and then they could all sail together just like it used to be. The beginnings of a solid plan started to form in her mind, and Vivi settled down for the journey ahead with a smile.  
  
The trip took the better part of two days, and by the time they arrived in Rainbase Vivi was getting antsy for something to do. Now that her plan was complete, she had a lot to get done in a relatively short period of time. She made her way to the casino, melding seamlessly into the crowds of people looking for a night of fun. She remembered the last time she was there all too well, and gripped her Peacock Slashers tightly within the folds of her cloak. She didn’t have anyone else to worry about this time, and since she knew Crocodile’s weakness she might be able to catch him by surprise and get a wet blade around his throat before he could react. Even if surprise failed, with the amount of water she had hidden on her person she was all but guaranteed to be able to take him on head to head.  
  
Vivi made her way towards the VIP area, trying to decide if she should turn right or left. Before she could make a decision, a tap on her shoulder stopped her, and she turned around with a smile. Her false apologies died on her tongue when she didn’t see anyone there, and a sudden grip on her other shoulder made her heart sink.  
  
“I’m sorry, miss, but I don’t believe you have permission to go back there.”  
  
Vivi turned again to see Miss All Sunday standing there, arms crossed in her characteristic pose. She knew that if she didn’t answer correctly, the hands on her shoulders could snap her spine. With a sudden clarity, she knew that her plans had to change. “I’m here to make you an offer, Nico Robin.”  
  
Two more hands grew out of Vivi’s back to rest on either side of her head, and Robin smiled. “What kind of offer?”  
  
“To see the Poneglyph of Alabasta.” She remembered her last conversation with the Straw Hats before coming back in time, and swallowed. “As well as another hidden in the skies above Jaya.”  
  
The hands on her head vanished, though the one on her shoulder remained. “I’m listening.”  
  
“Can we take this somewhere more private? I don’t want to be overheard.” Robin nodded, gesturing Vivi down the path towards the VIP room. She stopped in front of a small side door, pushing it open to reveal a small office. The only furnishings were a desk, two chairs, and a side table with a pitcher of water, and Vivi guessed that it was Robin’s office. The older woman sat down in the chair behind the desk, and the hand which still rested on her shoulder pushed her into the one across from it.  
  
“What do you have to offer me?”  
  
“I want to take you to the Poneglyphs in Alabasta and Skypiea.” She swallowed, wondering if it was safe to ask for some of the water in the conspicuous pitcher. “In return, I want you to help me get Crocodile arrested.” Vivi knew it was a risky move to ask Robin to betray Crocodile, but at the same time she was relatively certain it would work.  
  
Miss All Sunday looked at her for a moment in silence before tightening her grip on Vivi’s shoulders. “How did you know that I wanted to see the Poneglyphs?” Vivi opened her mouth, but found that she couldn’t think of a believable lie. “The most obvious answer is that Crocodile sent you to test my loyalty, but you might also have been sent by the World Government.” Vivi desperately tried to think of something, anything to say, and Robin’s expression hardened. “Well, which is it? Who should I be sending my consolations to once I’ve fed you to Crocodile’s pets?”  
  
The hand on her shoulder pulled, twisting her spine uncomfortably, and Vivi gasped. “Saul!”  
  
The pressure stopped immediately, and Robin’s face went blank. “Saul?”  
  
“When- when Ohara burned, a man named Saul told you that you would one day find friends who cared about you.” Her shoulders were allowed to return to a comfortable position, and Vivi kept as calm as possible. “In two years, a man named Monkey D Luffy is going to come here and defeat Crocodile. He saves your life, as well as mine, and the entire country in the process. Luffy will declare war on the World Government for you, and take on Enies Lobby itself to save you. He and his crew are the friends Saul promised you, and you will trust them with your life.”  
  
“In two years? How do you know that?”  
  
“My name is Vivi. I’m from the future, and I’m here to make sure that both of us get the lives we deserve.” Robin was clearly thrown for a loop, which Vivi understood. It had been that kind of week.  
  
“Why? If you know about Ohara, then you must know what I’ve done since then. You have no reason to trust me, let alone help me.”  
  
Vivi could barely believe that the woman in front of her was the same person who had so staunchly defended her place as a Straw Hat in Mariejois. She wondered what exactly had happened in Enies Lobby to cause such a drastic change in outlook. “You may not believe me. I can’t give you any real reason to. But I’m telling the truth. I believe in you, and in the person you become. Why not let me take you to the Alabasta Poneglyph? Once you’ve seen it, you can turn in Crocodile for planning a coup, and I can take you to Skypiea to see the second one.”  
  
Robin looked at her, finally releasing her shoulders. “You will take me to the Poneglyph of Alabasta?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“And all I have to do is turn in Crocodile?”  
  
“That’s right.”  
  
Robin nodded, her face returning to its normal smirk. “Then let’s go.”

* * *

The transportation available to Baroque Works’ second in command was much faster than what Vivi had taken, so Robin said they should be in Alubarna by dawn. Vivi was reminded of another time she had made the same trip overnight, and hoped that this one would end in less bloodshed. After an hour or two of silent travel, Robin turned to her and started asking questions.  
  
“You said you’re from the future.”  
  
“I am.”  
  
“How is that possible?”  
  
Vivi shrugged. “I’m not exactly sure. A pirate named Blackbeard attacked me, and he did something to Luffy’s hat.”  
  
“The same Luffy who you said defeated Crocodile?”  
  
“Yes. Blackbeard did something at the Reverie, possibly with the help of a devil fruit, and the next thing I knew I was five years in the past.”  
  
“The Reverie? What were you doing there? And what was Luffy doing there, if you said he was a pirate?”  
  
Vivi gulped, realized too late that she had once again said something she shouldn’t have. “Well, the Fishman delegation hired Luffy and his crew as their bodyguards to avoid bringing too many non-humans and risk upsetting the other nobles.”  
  
“And you?”  
  
Vivi sighed, running a hand through her hair. She was starting to get used to the new length, but it was still unnerving. “I was there as the representative for Alabasta. My father was sick, and unable to attend.”  
  
Robin stilled, and Vivi knew that she was smart enough to connect the dots. “Vivi. As in, Princess Nefertari Vivi, heir to the throne.”  
  
“I didn’t want to tell you.” Vivi pulled her knees up to her chin, looking out over the vast desert. “There’s already a Princess Vivi here, in this timeline. They don’t need another one. There’s no point in dwelling on the past when there’s nothing I can do about it. I might as well forget I ever was a princess.”  
  
Robin was quiet for a moment. “History is important. Our history is what makes us who we are, and it shapes what we’re going to be. Even if you don’t want to acknowledge it, your past is a part of you, and it always will be.” Vivi turned to see Robin looking directly at her, smiling sadly. “You said you’re going to change the future. If you don’t remember your past, who will?”  
  
They sat in silence with their thoughts until Vivi could see Alubarna on the horizon and Robin asked one last question.  
  
“Miss Princess, you said that Monkey D Luffy is going to defeat Crocodile in two years.”  
  
“I did. He did.”  
  
“I presume that you met him during this incident.”  
  
“We met when he entered the Grand Line, but yes, I travelled with him because he promised to help me defeat Crocodile.”  
  
“So how will you meet now?” Vivi stared, and Robin rephrased the question. “Without the catalyst of defeating Crocodile, how do you plan to meet this Monkey D Luffy?”  
  
She stretched, staring at the quickly growing silhouette of Alubarna. “I know where he’s from, so I suppose I’ll just go there and try to find him. I was thinking of picking up a few things first, just to convince him to hear me out, but I don’t think it will be much of an issue. He’s a very trusting person. If he’s already left home by the time I get there, then I’ll figure something else out. He told me he left home on his seventeenth birthday, though, and that won’t be for at least another two years. We have plenty of time to find the Poneglyph in Skypiea first.” Robin didn’t respond to that, and they spent the rest of the ride in companionable silence.  
  
Once in Alubarna, Vivi led the way to the hidden tunnel. Her father hadn’t wanted to tell her anything about its location, but it hadn’t been too hard to find the site of Crocodile’s defeat, and from there finding the entrance was a matter of looking for holes in the ground which were too geometric to have been caused by the collapse of the underground chamber. She wasn’t sure why she had wanted to know so badly, but there was something cathartic about seeing the place where the man she had hated so strongly for two years had met his match. It took her a moment to figure out how to open the tunnel, and when the stairs finally appeared she let out a sigh of relief.  
  
“After you, Miss Princess.”  
  
Vivi led Robin down into the tunnel, glad that the archaeologist had thought to bring a torch. For a while, the only sound was their footsteps on the stairs, and the deeper they got the more it felt like the darkness was creeping in around them. It seemed like half an hour before they reached the bottom, though it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, and when they entered the massive chamber Robin gasped.  
  
Vivi had never actually seen a Poneglyph, and she wasn’t sure what she had expected it to look like. The massive cube was imposing, in a way, and Vivi stepped aside as Robin walked up to it with a soft smile. Her face fell after a few seconds though, and she started to read visibly faster. Vivi held her tongue, remembering what her father had told her about why the Poneglyph must never be unburied. After a few minutes, Robin turned away, all hints of a smile gone.  
  
“What did it say?”  
  
“Nothing important.”  
  
“I’m sorry.”  
  
Robin looked at her, searching for something in her face. “Do you know what it says?”  
  
“I…” She considered lying, but decided against it. “I can’t read it, so I don’t know the specifics, but yes. My father told me.”  
  
“Pluton.” Robin looked back at the Poneglyph, voice full of scorn. “The lost century has so much more to offer than weapons. Why must the forces of destruction be the only ones we value?”  
  
Vivi knew that nothing she could say would help, so instead she gestured back towards the stairs. “Shall we go?”  
  
“Why did you bring me here if you knew what it said?” Robin’s was staring at Vivi again, as if she could figure out what she was thinking if she only looked hard enough. “Why would you willingly reveal the location of an ancient weapon to someone who you cannot trust?”  
  
“But I do trust you.” Vivi was almost surprised at her own words, though she hoped that didn’t show on her face.  
  
Robin laughed, derisive and cruel, and Vivi wondered if it was at her stupidity for trusting her or at the idea that she could be trusted at all. “Very well, Miss Princess. Let’s go see about turning in my boss, shall we?”

* * *

The next morning, the only thing anyone was talking about was the arrest of Sir Crocodile. Scattered amongst the conversations were people lamenting that they had ever suspected their king of using Dance Powder, and Vivi smiled. Next to her, Robin raised an eyebrow. “Out of curiosity, what did it take to bring him down before?”  
  
“A war. He orchestrated it, and we were barely able to stop it.” Vivi didn’t want to remember it, the horror and chaos, screaming herself hoarse and nobody hearing. “I’m just glad nobody had to die this time.”  
  
“You do realize that they only caught a few of the agents.”  
  
“They were only a threat because of Crocodile. They were good people, most of them, just following the wrong man.” She thought of Miss Monday and Mr 9, as well as all she’d heard about Mr. 2 and Mr. 3’s contributions to Luffy’s attempt to save his brother. “They’ll be fine.”  
  
“All right then. What next, Miss Princess?”  
  
Vivi paused, considering. “Well, we need to get to Skypiea. For that, we’ll need a sturdy ship, but more importantly we’ll need a log pose pointing there.” She remembered something Nami had said, and grimaced. “We’ll also need about two hundred thousand Beli to get in without getting in trouble.”  
  
“To get in?”  
  
“There’s an entrance fee.”  
  
Robin nodded, looking thoughtful. “I wonder if there are any pirates here we can kill and turn in for bounties to raise that money.”  
  
Vivi had to admit that that was probably the best idea, although she would much rather not kill anyone if they didn’t need to. “Alright. Is there anywhere nearby that might have bounties posted?”  
  
“I’m not sure if there would be anything in Alubarna, but the port towns should have plenty. More pirates pass through there than the capital anyways, so we would have more luck in actually catching one.”  
  
“To Nanohara, then?”  
  
Robin smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “As you see fit, Miss Princess.”

* * *

“Excuse me, officer?” The Marine looked up, and Vivi drew upon her years as Miss Wednesday to give the most threatening smile possible. “I was wondering if you could give me a stack of current bounties.”  
  
He looked at her for a moment before laughing, leaning forward with a leer. “Oh come on, I don’t think a pretty girl like you needs to be worrying about something like that. Why don’t you-” Before he could finish what was bound to be some kind of skeevy offer, a tall woman walked up behind him and smacked him on the back of the head. It took a moment to recognize her without her characteristic purple suit, but thankfully she spoke before Vivi could blurt out a name she had no reason to know.  
  
“Hina is very disappointed in you.” She turned to Vivi, rolling a cigarette between her lips. “There are too many bounty posters to give you all the current bounties. Would you like the ones most recently spotted on this path of the Grand Line?”  
  
“Y- yes, please. Thank you.”  
  
Hina glared at the other Marine, who flinched away. “Go get the nice young lady what she wants, or Hina is going to have to report you for insubordination.” He bolted, and Vivi held back a smile. “Hina is sorry about him. He doesn’t belong anywhere that puts him in contact with women, in Hina’s opinion.”  
  
Vivi nodded, and the two women stood in companionable silence until the other Marine returned with a sheaf of paper. “H- here you go, miss.”  
  
“Thank you, officers.” She nodded at Hina and turned around, heading away from the Marine post and into the shadier parts of the city until she reached the inn where Robin stood waiting. “Did you find anything in the paper?”  
  
“Nothing of use. There was an exceptionally high bounty, but he was last seen in the New World. A rookie by the name of Fire Fist Ace.”  
  
Vivi’s heart stopped for a second. “I- I don’t think we’ll be attempting to collect that bounty, no. I managed to get some posters, though.”  
  
“Let’s see them.” Vivi started shuffling through the posters, noting that someone had written comments on their last known whereabouts on each of them. She suspected that the Marine had picked up the stack of recently issued or updated bounties to avoid taking too long and incurring Hina’s wrath, which worked out great for them because it meant they could ignore anyone who had no chance of being in Alabasta.  
  
They ended up creating two piles: one for the pirates last seen en route to Alabasta, and one for everyone else. Sadly, the second stack contained most of the high bounties, probably because anyone with half a brain knew to stay away from a Warlord’s home base. Crocodile had been deposed, but it would be some time before that news spread far enough for anyone to do anything about it. As she reached the last few, the bounties caught her eye before the pictures, and she gaped at the numbers.  
  
“Ah yes. The Emperors.” Robin took the final four posters and held them all up at once, sprouting a pair of extra arms to do so. “Whitebeard, Big Mom, Kaido, and Beckmann. If you consider Fire Fist Ace out of our league, Miss Princess, it would be best not to even bother considering these four.”  
  
“Wait, hold on.” Vivi grabbed the last one, staring until she was certain there could be no mistake. “What crew is Beckmann the captain of? I don’t-” She cast about for a way to phrase the question before remembering that she had already told Robin she was from the future. “He wasn’t one of the Emperors before.”  
  
“I believe his crew is named the Red Haired Pirates, Miss Princess.” Vivi stared at the poster, her heart sinking. “From what I recall, they were named after their original captain, who died some time ago."  
  
She knew she recognized that hat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sorry for anything, except how long this took to post.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a new tag, which I feel almost obligated to apologize for. I must warn that this is not the only time that tag will be relevant, but it is the only time it's relevant for a character that isn't a villain. Three other people will die over the course of the story, though two of them will not be for a very long time.

Vivi took a deep breath, clutching the poster tight enough that it began to tear. “Their captain died?”

“Yes. Not much is known about the incident, and the only way for anyone to know about it at all is if they do some very intensive digging into Beckmann’s past.” Vivi’s breath hitched, and Robin looked at her askance. “Can I assume that their former captain was the Emperor before?”

“Shanks. His name was Shanks.” Vivi took a deep breath, hands trembling with fury. “That must have been why he wanted the hat. He went back in time to kill Shanks, so Luffy would never-” She thought back to that night with the Straw Hats, when Luffy had told them all the story of how he got his hat. The poster ripped in half. “He took away Luffy’s dream to be King of the Pirates.”

Robin raised an eyebrow. “Quite an ambitious goal.”

“He’s going to do it.” Vivi looked down at the torn paper, fitting the pieces back together so she could make out the hat again. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“Really?”

“Yes.” Vivi took a deep breath, willing herself to calm down. Anger at Blackbeard wouldn’t get her anywhere now, especially if he’d apparently travelled back over a decade more than her. She needed to keep her head, and figure out a way to get through this. Her determination started to solidify into a more cohesive plan, and she grimaced. “I’ll assemble his crew for him, and then I’ll find him and make him remember his dream.”

“The dream which he only had in a time which nobody but you remembers.”

Vivi looked up at Robin. “He saved my entire country. I’ll save him if it’s the last thing I do.”

Robin nodded, and Vivi handed her the stack of possible bounties. “Is there anyone in particular I should aim for, Miss Princess?”

“Not really, no, but try to find a crew that has a ship big enough to transport a large amount of cargo. If everything goes according to plan, we’ll need it.”

“And if things don’t go according to plan?”

Vivi took a deep breath. “We’ll be dead, so it won’t matter.”

Robin smirked, eyes narrowing. “Very well, Miss Princess. Shall we meet back here once I’ve rounded up the criminals?”

“Huh?”

“I am a wanted woman, Miss Princess. Surely you don’t expect me to turn in the bounties myself.”

Vivi winced. “Of course not. I’m sorry, it slipped my mind.”

“You forgot about the bounty on my head?”

She clearly didn’t believe her, but it was true. It had been a very long time since Vivi thought about Luffy, or any of his friends, as criminals. “Yes, I did. I’ll see you soon, Robin.”

She left at that, since she was certain that no matter what she said, it would take a long time for Robin to believe that she wasn’t going to turn her in. From what little she knew, Robin didn’t even really trust Luffy until he stormed Enies Lobby itself for her, and Vivi wasn’t keen on repeating that debacle any time soon, if at all. She’d have to figure out some way of convincing her that she meant what she said, but until that happened Vivi would just have to be as nice as possible to her. Pausing to reorient herself in the dim alleyways, Vivi headed for the docks. Even if Robin got them a ship, which Vivi was sure she could, they still needed to get to Skypiea. Nami had said that their log pose had pointed up instead of to the side, and she thought it was broken, so it stood to reason that anyone else whose log pose pointed to the missing half of Jaya might think it was broken as well. With a brief stop at a shop to buy a fresh log pose, already pointing to Jaya, Vivi stepped out onto the dock.

It took half an hour to find someone complaining loudly about their log pose malfunctioning. Vivi stepped up beside them, plastering on a bright smile. “Excuse me, sir and madams, but I couldn’t help but overhear. You say your log pose is broken?”

“Yeah, it is. We’ve made this run dozens of times, Nanohara to Mock Town, but the log pose is pointing somewhere different now. I think something’s messing with it.”

“Well, you’re in luck, sir, because I happen to be a log pose repairwoman.”

“A what now?”

The man seemed to be reaching for his wallet, and Vivi guessed he thought she was some kind of thief. It was a reasonable assumption, since teenage girls with honest professions didn’t really frequent the docks, but it stung a little all the same. Even if she was going to be a pirate now, she liked to think she would be an honest one.

“It’s not a very common profession, since log poses malfunction so rarely. However, it is known to happen, especially with the older models. For a reasonable fee, I’d be willing to fix yours right now. It won’t take more than 15 minutes.”

The man hesitated, turning over his shoulder to the women behind him. One of them grabbed his arm and pulled him closer, and the group held a furiously whispered debate for a moment before the tallest woman stepped back towards Vivi, holding the log pose.

“How much is your fee, little girl?”

Vivi had figured out her script in advance, but for a moment she honestly considered raising the price. “Ten thousand Beris.”

“Done. Vivi held out her hand to take the log pose, but the woman snatched her hand back at the last second. “Payment upon delivery, and you do your work here where we can see you.”

Vivi hesitated on the second part. The sleight of hand required to switch log poses would be much harder to pull off if she was being watched, but it was still a better bet than trying to find someone else whose log pose had locked onto the sky island. “Fine by me, though I’ll need some space and tools.”

Vivi pretended to tinker with the log pose for ten minutes, mostly just holding a strong magnet near it and poking it with a screwdriver. When the man watching her looked away to answer a crewmate’s question, Vivi switched the poses, hiding the supposedly broken one in her sleeve and pulling out the one she bought earlier. To be safe, she spent another few minutes pretending to work before standing up and smiling.

“All done. This should lead you straight to Jaya.”

Someone handed her a wad of cash before shoving her off the ship, and Vivi reminded herself that she was a nice pirate, not someone who would hold a grudge because someone was rude. She’d learned to forgive and forget years ago, and it wouldn’t do to forget her manners just because she was turning to a life of piracy. Dusting herself off, she made her way to the meeting point, fastening the log pose securely around her wrist as she walked. The arrow wobbled a little, but still pointed up, and she smiled.

Robin was already there when she arrived, leaning up against a wall next to five burly men. They were tied together in a clump, like vegetables, and multiple limbs were bent in directions they probably shouldn’t have been. Two were unconscious, and the remaining three looked like they wished they were.

“Five criminals, ready to be turned in.”

“Who are they?”

Robin tossed her a bounty poster, and Vivi compared it to the captives. “The Brothers of Ophelia, a small group notorious for pillaging the towns around Marine bases while the soldiers are occupied elsewhere. Total bounty 300 thousand Beris.”

Vivi nodded, rolling up the poster and stashing it inside her cloak. “I’ll take them in.”

“I’ll follow behind, so I can show you to their ship when you have the money.”

One of the men started to cry, and Vivi swallowed. “Understood.”

It took no more than 5 minutes for Vivi to make her way back to the Marine office, even with the unconscious members of the Brothers of Ophelia slowing her down. The conscious ones were oddly compliant, and Vivi suspected it had something to do with the small glimpses of Robin following behind at a safe distance. When she arrived, the same man was at the desk, and she walked up to him with a grin.

“Hello, officer. I’ve come to turn in a few bounties.” His eyes bugged out, and he gaped for a second before collecting himself and nodding.

“If you’ll bring them in through the door to your right, someone will be right with you to fill out the paperwork.”

Vivi sighed. It had been a long time since she had filled out paperwork to collect a bounty, but the inherent distaste never faded. She proceeded to the door the officer pointed out, gesturing the Brothers of Ophelia through first. Almost as soon as she stepped through the door, however, she walked right into someone.

“Oh, Hina apologizes.” She looked at Vivi’s prisoners and grinned. “Hina remembers you from earlier. Good job capturing these criminals. Come on, Hina will take you to get them processed.”

She stretched out an arm, and Vivi watched in fascination as it passed right through the men, wrapping them in iron bands. She had known of the Devil Fruit which earned Iron Cage Hina her nickname, but it was still impressive to see it in action. Hina grabbed the clump of men, who seemed to have accepted their fate, and started dragging them down the corridor. Vivi followed, praying that her face wasn’t memorable enough to cause problems for the version of her which was still going to be a princess. She hoped that the other Vivi had read the note and followed its advice, even if it was mostly irrelevant at this point. With Crocodile gone, the other Vivi would never have to make that decision, and with any luck she would never have to deal with the problems that arose when royalty associated with pirates.

After much more walking than seemed possible for such a small building, Hina shoved the men into a room and shut the door. She then opened the door next to it, gesturing Vivi inside. There was a desk covered in paperwork, two chairs, and a small painting of an idyllic beach town.

“Hina apologizes for the size of her office. Please give Hina a moment to draw up the paperwork.”

Vivi sat down in the chair across from the desk, and after a quiet moment where the silence was broken by the shuffling of papers Hina picked up a pen and started writing. From what little Vivi could see past the mounds on top of the desk, she was filling in the date and her own name.

“Name on the bounty poster?”

It took Vivi a second to realize she was being addressed. “Oh. The Brothers of Ophelia.”

“Can you provide a copy of the poster?”

“Yes, just a moment.” She fished it out, handing it to Hina. She did something, possibly to check if the poster was genuine, and nodded before writing something else down. “Person to whom bounty will be paid?”

Vivi paused. She couldn’t exactly give her own name, and she had yet to think of a suitable replacement for such occasions. On the other hand, maybe she had. “Straw Hat Luffy.”

“Straw Hat Luffy? Hina thinks that is a very nice name.” She signed the page with a flourish, and turned it around so Vivi could as well. She almost signed her actual name before catching herself and printing the same signature which she’d put on the letter to her alternate self.

“Will that be all, officer?”

“Hina believes that is it.” She scribbled something onto a sheet of paper, handing it to Vivi with a smile. “Take this to the man in the office at the end of the hall and he’ll give you your bounty. Have a good day.”

“You too, officer.”

As soon as Vivi had the money in her hands, she secured it in an inner pocket. It wouldn’t do to be robbed of their ticket into Skypiea before they even left Alabasta, and there was no such thing as too cautious. Robin seemed to materialize out of thin air once she was a few blocks away from the Marine office, and it took a very large amount of willpower not to jump.

“Do you have the money, Miss Princess?”

“Yes. Do we have a ship?”

Robin just smiled and turned around, walking back towards the docks. Vivi followed her, wondering how long it would be before Hina’s talent as an officer was recognized beyond her ability to manage a base and file paperwork. When they reached the shore, Vivi noticed the crew she had taken the log pose from setting off. She sincerely hoped that they didn’t run into each other en route to Jaya, as it might cause some awkward conversations. Of course, Robin could always solve any disagreement using her unique set of skills, but Vivi would rather stay under the radar for the moment.

“Here it is, Miss Princess.” Vivi looked up to see a good sized ship, maybe a little bigger than the Going Merry, and her stomach sank. “Is something wrong?”

“The ship is perfect, but…”

“But what?”

“I’m not sure if the two of us can handle a ship like this.”

Robin smiled, growing an arm out of Vivi’s shoulder to pat her on the cheek. “I’m sure we’ll be fine, Miss Princess. Is the log pose in order?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s leave. The ship is full of supplies, and I’d rather not stick around and wait for dear Sir Crocodile to tell the Marines exactly who turned him in.”

“Good plan.” Vivi made her way up the gangplank, smiling when she felt the familiar sway of the ocean under her feet. She looked back at Nanohara one last time, taking a deep breath of the dusty desert air before facing the sea. “Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up being a little short, but it got the plot rolling, so I'm not sorry. Things will pick up a bit from here on out, though there's one or two more chapters of setup before it really takes off. If you spot any errors, please let me know, and I'll do my best to fix them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am quite sorry that this chapter took so long, especially since it's actually been fully written for a while now. Real life has been a bitch lately.

“Is something wrong, Miss Princess?”

Vivi looked up from her plate. Robin had been distracted for most of the meal, since she had an eye open on deck to watch their course, but it seemed like her full attention was on Vivi now.

“It’s nothing, Robin, just…” She looked down and sighed. “I miss Sanji.”

“Sanji?”

Vivi smiled, putting down her fork. “Sanji. He’s Luffy’s chef. I’ve never eaten anything as delicious as the meals he made me during the weeks I was with them.” After a moment, she realized how that must have sounded. “Not that your cooking isn’t good! It’s wonderful, really.”

“No need to exaggerate, Miss Princess. I learned the skills I needed to survive. I have no problem admitting that I’m not as talented as this Sanji.”

Vivi stabbed the last bit of chicken, swallowing heavily before clearing her throat. “Luffy had a kind of talent for finding the best people. The best chef, the best navigator, the best doctor. The best sniper. He didn’t have the best swordsman yet, but I’m sure that it’s only a matter of time before Zoro manages to beat Mihawk. After I left, he got the best shipwright and musician I’ve ever met.” She looked across the table. “The best archaeologist, too.”

“And what was Luffy the best at?”

Vivi honestly wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “He’s the best pirate captain. He’s not the strongest yet, or at least, he wasn’t, but I have full confidence that it’s only a matter of time before he reaches his goal.”

Robin nodded. “What if it’s not his goal anymore?”

“I don’t think I understand.”

Robin pushed her chair away from the table. “You said earlier that this Blackbeard fellow killed the captain of the Red Haired Pirates so that Luffy would lose his dream. If that’s not true, you have nothing to worry about, but if it is…”

Vivi got the point. She hadn’t really considered it before, beyond the initial realization, because Luffy’s dream was such a big part of who he was that she honestly couldn’t imagine him without it. After a contemplative silence, she looked up at Robin with a grin. “Luffy wanted to be a pirate so he could be free. He decided to be the Pirate King after meeting Shanks, but he always wanted to be a pirate. Once I find him, it should be easy enough to set him on the right track.”

She was sure that Robin could tell that her smile was forced, but she didn’t really care at that point. At the moment, her goal was to assemble Luffy’s crew before finding him and getting him his dream back. She hoped that Robin would trust her enough not to leave, since she was honestly not sure how to convince her that she meant no harm. She had been lied to one too many times to trust easily, and Vivi wasn’t sure what she could do to convince the archaeologist that as long as she was a Straw Hat, she was with people who cared about her. She wasn’t too keen on the idea of storming Enies Lobby on her own, though if it came down to it Vivi would do anything for her friends.

“What would you do if you could go back?”

Vivi had to process that for a moment before she realized what Robin was talking about. “I’d go. I made that decision before, and I’ll make it as many times as I need to. Alabasta needs its princess, and my dreams will always take a backseat to my country.” Robin nodded, as if that was the answer she had been expecting, but something about her face made Vivi keep going. “That’s why I don’t really want there to be a way back.

Robin looked as surprised by that as Vivi felt. “You don’t?”

“No.” The more she considered it, the more Vivi realized that it was the honest truth. “I have an obligation to my country, and if I can fulfill it I will, but I can’t even begin to describe how happy I was when I realized that in this time, there’s already a Princess Vivi to do that job, and I can do whatever I want to.” She grinned at Robin, a genuine smile this time. “As it turns out, I want to be a pirate.”

Once dinner had been cleaned up, conversation turned to what to do overnight. There was no way Vivi could run the ship on her own, but it would be unfair to keep Robin awake to maintain the ship the entire time they were in transit. They settled on raising the sails at night and hoping that it would be enough to keep mostly on course.

When morning came, the Log Pose was pointing in the opposite direction as the prow of the ship, and it took almost an hour to get it turned around. Robin’s many limbs were able to do most of the work, so Vivi was assigned to the helm, and by lunch they were sailing peacefully along. As Robin washed the dishes with a neat assembly line of arms, Vivi decided that the best way to make sure she didn’t forget anything was to write a list of the important details necessary to make sure that, just in case Luffy couldn’t manage it, she would be able to assemble the Straw Hat Pirates for him.

“Is that our agenda, Miss Princess?”

Vivi nodded, more focused on getting down the exact details of the events of Arlong Park than on the conversation. “Everything they told me about how they joined the crew, so I can make sure it still happens.”

“All of it? Even the bad?”

Vivi paused, thinking about it. There were a lot of bad things mixed in with the good that Luffy inevitably brought to the people he called friends that, when she thought about it, might be better to avoid. Robin had joined the crew after a war which killed hundreds of people, but Vivi had recruited her without the loss of even a single life. While she didn’t know of anyone dying during the recruitment of any of the other members of the crew, people had been badly injured in almost every story, and Vivi realized with a smile that she could avoid all of that.

“Well, maybe not the bad. There didn’t need to be a war before you left Baroque Works, so maybe I can manage to solve everyone else’s problems without undue bloodshed. Even so, I still need to remember exactly what happened before so I can be prepared for it.” She looked over the paper in front of her, rereading her notes on Nami’s situation pre-Luffy to make sure she hadn’t made any mistakes. She wasn’t sure exactly where the Merry had been docked, but that wasn’t important if she was planning to avoid the situation where its theft was necessary.

“Does there tend to be bloodshed?”

Vivi let out a short laugh. “Luffy doesn’t do things by halves, so when people start trouble he’s rather good at finishing it. With the kind of situations he finds people in, there tends to be trouble.”

Robin nodded, and before Vivi could start transcribing the situation on Drum Island she spoke up again. “Tell me about them.”

“Who?”

“The other members of the crew I was supposedly on. You already mentioned the cook and the captain, but I assume there were others.”

Vivi was unreasonably pleased that Robin had asked that. She was sure that once Robin got to know the other members of the crew, she would want to stay, but since it was going to be a while before they had that opportunity she would just have to settle for telling her about them. Robin proved a patient listener, and she spent most of the day telling Robin everything she knew about the Straw Hats. She made sure to emphasize how wonderful they all were, from Usopp’s bravery when it really mattered to how even Zoro and Sanji were able to work together when their friends needed them. Robin seemed more amused than impressed, unfortunately, and Vivi was left hoping that she believed her when she said that more than anything, the best part about the Straw Hat Pirates was how much they all cared about each other.

Around dusk, when they were getting ready to drop anchor again, Robin stilled for a moment. Vivi followed her gaze to the prow of the ship, but when that didn’t reveal anything she looked around to see a small dark shape on the horizon. “Is that Jaya?”

“I’m not sure. Is the Log Pose pointing towards it, Miss Princess?”

Vivi checked her wrist, and found that the needle was pointing at nearly a 45 degree angle in the opposite direction. “No, but that doesn’t really mean anything. The Log Pose is pointing towards Skypiea, not Jaya, and the two don’t usually match up. Either way, we should probably head over there to dock for the night.”

It took a bit of finagling to catch the slight breeze, but once they got a bit closer Vivi was able to see the bright lights of civilization on the shore. “Shall we go into town?”

“No. Head for the opposite side of the island. If this is Jaya, there should be a small house there.”

Robin didn’t question her, though this was the portion of the journey Vivi was least certain of. Luffy hadn’t gone into too much detail about what happened when they were on Jaya itself, though Vivi suspected from the knowing looks the others had given him that he had been trying to avoid mentioning something. From what little she had gleaned, Mock Town was to be avoided unless absolutely necessary, and Montblanc Cricket would be a helpful friend if she could gain his trust. If it turned out that this wasn’t Jaya, they could resupply in the morning and be on their way.

“Miss Princess, did you say a small house?”

Vivi opened her mouth to confirm that, pleased that they were in the right place after all, when she looked up to see a veritable palace on the edge of the cliff. Its striped towers were magnificent, but before she could wonder what was going on she noticed that they seemed to be shrinking as they approached. She tilted her head, then climbed up to the crow’s nest. From the new vantage point, it was rather easy to tell that the impressive palace was just a facade, and she climbed back down with a smile. From the look on Robin’s face, she had grown an eye or two up high enough to see the same thing, and Vivi went into the galley to grab her notes on Skypiea as Robin maneuvered the ship into position.

By the time Vivi came back out, a few dozen hands were tossing the anchor overboard, and Robin nodded as they dissipated into flower petals. Vivi let down the gangplank, but before they could disembark a voice called out from the shore.

“Who are you, and what business do you have here?”

Vivi squinted into the dark, and immediately regretted it when a bright light shone straight into her eyes. She held up her hands while blinking the spots out of her vision, hoping that Robin would take the hint and not attack as she shouted back. “My name is Vivi, and this is my friend Robin. We heard that you were the person to talk to about finding a sky island.”

Vivi’s vision finally cleared enough for her to make out the figure standing outside the small house. His hair was shaped strangely, and he wasn’t wearing a shirt, but aside from that he was a normal looking adult. After a long silence, he nodded, and Vivi turned to Robin. “Please let me do the talking. I don’t want to risk him recognizing you, though I don’t think he’d do anything about it.”

She nodded, and the two of them walked down to meet the man. Vivi smiled as soon as she was close enough to see his face, and held out a hand for him to shake. “Montblanc Cricket, I presume?”

He took the hand after a moment, though he was visibly more suspicious than anything else. “Yes, that’s me. What can I do for you girls?”

Vivi took a deep breath, fingers tightening around her notes. “It’s a bit of a long story. Could we talk inside?”

He gestured behind himself to the small cabin which in no way matched the image of a palace visible from the shore. Vivi smiled again, drawing on years of practice at diplomatic charm to ensure that this conversation went the way she intended. When they were settled down inside, Robin crossed her arms, and Vivi prayed that whether or not Cricket believed them they wouldn’t have to fight him.

“I don’t have much to do tonight, so you might as well get on with this long story.”

Vivi took a deep breath. “Sometimes, when people are leaving Alabasta, their Log Poses point up. They’re supposed to point to Jaya, straight along the surface of the ocean, but instead they point up. The thing is, people have studied the magnetic fields of the Grand Line. There are rules, and those rules are always followed. Each island points to exactly one other island, and if people’s Log Poses point to two different places from Alabasta then something is wrong.

“Unless nothing is wrong, and Jaya’s magnetic field is split in half.” Cricket’s face stiffened, but Vivi didn’t give him time to interject. “I think that something happened to send a part of Jaya into the sky, and that’s why in Alabasta, my Log Pose started to point up. I followed it as far as I could, but my ship can’t fly on its own, and I was told that if I wanted to go somewhere impossible, you were the person to talk to.”

Cricket was completely silent for a few seconds, and Vivi was starting to wonder if she’d messed up when he started laughing. That was actually an encouraging sign, or at least more encouraging than silence, so she sat patiently until he got it out of his system. “Do you know what I do every day, girl?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Every day, I go diving off the coast here, looking for evidence of the legendary golden city sunk beneath the waves. My boys tell me that I need equipment, but it gets in the way, so I don’t use it. I dive down, looking for any sign of that city, and you tell me that you think it’s in the sky?” He laughed again, and Vivi wondered if she was going to have to do something drastic to get the information they needed from him.

“Mr. Montblanc, I-”

“I didn’t say I don’t believe you.” Vivi breathed a sigh of relief, and Robin seemed to relax as well. “There’s a thing called a knock-up stream. It’s a column of pressurized water strong enough to send a whole ship up into the sky.” He stood up, turning around to rummage through a stack of books. “There’s also a particularly dense kind of cloud known to appear in this area called a Millennium Cumulonimbus. It’s thick enough that if you pass under it, day becomes night.” He paused, and Vivi wondered if he’d found what he was looking for.

“The only time I’ve ever seen that kind of effect when I’m diving is when I swim under the shadow of the island above. It stands to reason that the only time that would happen out at sea is if the Millennium Cumulonimbus has an island, and people sail under its shadow.”

“The people in Mock Town told me you were the person to go to if I wanted something impossible. Does that mean you know how to get up there?” From what Nami had said of Mock Town, Cricket probably thought that people had been making fun of both him and Vivi. It wasn’t exactly wrong, but neither was it quite true, since she wasn’t sure if things that happened in an alternate timeline really counted.

“The knock-up stream is strong enough to send just about anything flying. If you were able to catch ahold of it while it was under the Millennium Cumulonimbus, then as long as your ship didn’t break you’d make it up there. Of course, that kind of coincidence doesn’t happen very often, and the air currents which carry the Millennium Cumulonimbus around are almost impossible to detect.”

Vivi’s face fell. She knew that it had been a lucky break for the knock-up stream and Skypiea to align as conveniently as they did for Luffy, but she had hoped that it would at least be possible.

“Then there’s no way up?” Robin sounded almost as disappointed as Vivi felt, but to her surprise Cricket grinned and laid a weathered book of notes on the table between them.

“I didn’t say that. The air currents may be hard to find, but they follow a set pattern, and without sufficient force to divert them from their course there’s no reason for them to deviate. The knock-up stream follows a pattern too, and according to my measurements they’re going to coincide in one week’s time about 100 miles due west of here.”

Vivi smiled, looking over the meticulous notes until she spotted the fortuitous overlap that Cricket described. “So if we were able to harness the knock-up stream to send us up there, we’d find the floating island?”

“In theory, yes. Of course, I’ve never heard of anyone making it back from something like that, so who knows if it would work.” He looked at Vivi, face turning more serious. “Why do you want to go there?”

Vivi wasn’t sure what to say to that. All Luffy had needed was the pull of adventure, but her goals weren’t nearly as innocent. She wanted to effectively rob the Skypieans blind, and doubted that Cricket would be too fond of that. Fortunately, before she could stammer out a half-truth, Robin spoke up.

“I study history, Mr. Montblanc, and a floating island nearly impossible to reach is bound to have fascinating stories to tell. My associate is looking for news of a friend, and believes that he may have passed through the area.”

Cricket raised an eyebrow. “Passed through a sky island?”

Robin smiled, and Vivi’s breath hitched at the resemblance she bore to the woman she remembered at the Reverie. “He’s a rather extraordinary man.”

Cricket seemed to accept that, thankfully, and turned to glance at a clock balanced precariously on a shelf. “It’s getting late. The log pose takes a few days to set here, so you should can stay the night without any problem. In the morning, we’ll see what we can do about getting your ship ready to fly.”

The girls stood up, and Vivi gave Cricket a small bow. “Thank you so much for your help, Mr. Montblanc. I don’t know how we could ever repay you.”

He waved her off, scratching the bald area around his unusual hair. “Don’t worry about it. If you want to pay me back, then find the other half of Jaya.” Robin opened her mouth, but Cricket held up a hand, grimacing. “I’ll explain in the morning, all right?”

The girls returned to the ship, and when Vivi was locked in her cabin she took a moment to quietly celebrate. This wasn’t the flimsiest portion of her plan, but it was certainly the one which was hardest to accommodate for. In a week’s time, they would reach Skypiea. She would figure out some way to take care of Eneru, and then she’d have the money to be one step closer to assembling Luffy’s crew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The thing which Luffy was avoiding referencing when talking about Jaya was that they ran into Blackbeard in Mock Town. He doesn't like talking about that, for obvious reasons. There's still very little action happening, but I promise that it won't be very long before things start to pick up. Chapter 7, almost definitely, on a hopefully much more regular update schedule.


	5. Chapter 5

Morning brought a rude awakening in the form of ridiculously loud music. Vivi all but staggered onto deck to see that their ship had been hemmed in by two much bigger ones. Both of them seemed to be empty, and Vivi turned to the source of the noise to see at least a hundred men dancing and playing instruments on the shore. Many of them looked more like monkeys than people, though not enough for Vivi to think they were Minks. They were all clustered around Cricket’s house, and Vivi was able to lean just far enough over the railing to see two huge men talking to Cricket. One of them boomed out a laugh, and the other turned to look right at Vivi.

He grinned wider than should have been possible for a normal person, though Vivi had seen Luffy’s mouth stretch to much less realistic proportions, and said something she couldn’t make out. When he seemed to notice that she couldn’t hear a word of it over the racket of the party behind him, he turned back to Cricket, who stood up straighter.

“All right, boys, that’s enough of that! You’ve disrupted my guests’ beauty sleep!”

Vivi was slightly offended by the phrase beauty sleep, but decided to let it slide when the entire party stopped in its tracks. Instruments were put away, dances were cut short, and Vivi could swear she even saw a barbeque packing up on the outskirts of the crowd. Cricket and his two large friends came over to the gangplank, and Vivi remembered her manners.

“Good morning, Mr. Montblanc. That wasn’t really necessary, I had already slept in enough.”

“Nonsense. Those hooligans need to learn to be considerate, and I’ll be damned if I let any guest of mine have reason to call me a bad host.” He nodded, though he wasn’t looking at Vivi, and she turned slightly to see that Robin had come up on deck behind her.

“That’s quite kind of you, Mr. Montblanc.”

“May we come aboard? I believe we have business to discuss.” Vivi glanced over to the gangplank to find that it had been raised at some point in the night. She suspected that Robin had done it, and while she didn’t begrudge her caution she wasn’t sure it was necessary in this instance. Robin, to her credit, lowered it as soon as Vivi glanced at her, though she did so manually instead of using her powers.

Vivi smiled politely at the two strangers, shaking their hands as soon as they reached the deck. Both of them were huge, easily twice her size and probably twice as strong, and she really didn’t want to risk upsetting them. “My name is Vivi. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The one with shorter hair blushed, rubbing the back of his head. The other sank into a short bow, which sent his ridiculously long hair cascading over his face. “It’s an honor to make your acquaintance, Miss Vivi. I am Shoujou, and this is my brother Masira. We are members of the Saruyama Alliance, along with our friend Cricket.”

“Pleased to meet you, Shoujou. Masira. This is my friend Robin. We’re trying to get to a sky island.” Robin inclined her head slightly to indicate that she was paying attention, though    
Vivi suspected that she was more focused on watching to make sure that none of the men on the shore tried anything.

“A sky island? How do you plan to do that?” Masira sounded genuinely interested, not mocking, and Vivi suspected that it was why Cricket had befriended him.

“Mr. Montblanc said that we could ride the knock-up stream into the Millennium Cumulonimbus.” He considered that for a second before nodding.

“So, Cricket, is that why you wanted us here?”

“Yeah, Cricket, is that all? We were getting some quality work done before you called us in.” Shoujou sounded annoyed, and Vivi wondered what kind of work he was doing that was so important.

“Quiet, you two. Now, Vivi, if you want to take the knock-up stream into the sky, your ship is going to need some adjustments. Would it be alright if my boys made some modifications to it?”

Vivi remembered Luffy mentioning that the Merry had needed some changes to reach Skypiea, and smiled. “That would be wonderful. How much would we owe you for that?”

Everyone seemed surprised by that, even Robin, and after a stunned silence Cricket laughed. “That won’t be necessary. After all, I’m helping you do something that could kill you out of a selfish desire to see my own dream fulfilled. It would be wrong to ask you to pay for that.”

Vivi saw the opportunity to broach a topic that she had been wanting to ask about the previous night. “What dream would that be, Mr. Montblanc?”

He tensed up, and Vivi looked as innocent as she could. “Masira, Shoujou, get to work. Why don’t you girls come have some breakfast, and I’ll tell you.”

It was phrased more as a statement than a request, and Vivi noted with no small measure of glee that Robin looked to her before following him back down onto shore. Any small sign that Robin was starting to trust her was good news, since after they found the Poneglyph on Skypiea she had no real way of ensuring that Robin stuck around. For the moment, they both followed Cricket back to his house, Shoujou yelling out to the men on the shore to start getting ready for a large construction project. Vivi remembered how Usopp had described the Going Merry’s flying version, and smiled. She hoped that at the very least, the ship she had now wouldn’t have to bear the indignity of a chicken head. Chickens can’t even fly.

When Cricket closed the door behind them, Vivi sat down at the table where they’d talked the night before. Robin stood with her back to the wall, every wary of some kind of deception, and Vivi ignored the mixed feelings of sympathy and anger evoked by the necessity of that habit. They had things to do, and didn’t have time to go and fight everyone who’d ever harmed Robin. Vivi’s train of thought derailed at that, slightly surprised at how willing she was to commit violence for someone she barely trusted only a week prior, but then again, a lot of things had changed in the past week.

“How do you take your eggs?”

“Sunny side up.” They both looked at her, and Vivi’s mind caught up to the conversation.

“Oh! Over easy, please.” Cricket nodded and turned to one of the shelves on the far side of the room. Shifting some papers revealed that it was actually a stovetop, which seemed incredibly unsafe to Vivi. Then again, with such a cramped living space, she supposed that any flat surface would be used for storage.

“So, you girls wanted to know about my dream.”

Vivi didn’t actually need him to tell her, because she already knew, but if she didn’t let him explain then it would only raise questions later. “Yes, if it isn’t too much trouble.”

“There’s a book on the shelf there. Would you mind reading it?”

Robin raised an eyebrow, but picked it up and opened it. “A story over four hundred years ago… In a certain country in the northern seas, there was a man named Montblanc Noland.”

Vivi remembered Sanji and Nami telling her this story at the Reverie. When they reached the part about all of his miraculous adventures, Usopp had announced that they found proof Noland had told the truth about more than just Skypiea. The Tontatta of Dressrosa hailed Noland as a hero and savior, and in fact the only reason they had managed to get out of there alive was that Usopp claimed he was Noland’s descendant. Vivi wasn’t quite sure how Noland’s actual descendant would feel about that, but she thought that if he knew, he would have been happier about even more proof of his ancestor’s innocence instead of upset by the lie.

“These were his last words. "That's it! The mountain of gold sank into the ocean!!!" The king and the others were shocked. Nobody believed Noland anymore, but he never stopped lying until he was dead.” Robin shut the book with a frown, and Cricket slid a plate of eggs in front of each of them.

“Bon appetit.” Vivi picked up her fork and dug in, since even the short few weeks spent with Sanji was enough to instill upon her the importance of eating every meal provided to you. Robin examined the eggs first, possibly attempting to decide whether or not they were poisoned.

“Is there a particular reason you have a children’s storybook in your house?”

“Because it’s a true story. Montblanc Noland was my ancestor.” Robin raised an eyebrow. Vivi swallowed and tried to look shocked. “My family has been mocked for centuries for the crime of being descended from such an infamous liar.” Robin tensed, but Cricket didn’t seem to notice. “I ran away from home years ago, trying to escape the curse of my family’s name. I somehow became a pirate captain, and me and my crew made our way here. Imagine my surprise to find out that this was the very same island that my ancestor’s most famous lie was told on. Even though I tried to run, I was the first Montblanc in generations to have even made it as far as Jaya. I didn’t even care at that point whether or not Noland was innocent. I just wanted to prove it one way or the other. My crew left me, and I’ve been here ever since, looking for the city of gold.”

Vivi put down her fork. “For the record, I think he was telling the truth. There’s no reason for him to have taken the lie so far, and no liar would be stupid enough to bring witnesses to see proof that they weren’t being honest.” Cricket stared at her, and Vivi stared right back. “When we reach the other half of Jaya, I’ll find a way to prove it.”

There was a long silence then, punctuated by the sounds of construction beginning outside. Eventually, Cricket laughed. “You know, I think I believe that.” Vivi relaxed, and Cricket sat down to his plate of eggs. “The log pose will reset for the next island after four days, so you need to be heading for the knock-up stream before then. It’ll mean sailing around the area for a while, but as long as your log pose is still pointing towards the sky island then you should be able to pull it off. Of course, the knock-up stream itself only lasts for a minute, so your timing is going to need to be impeccable if you want to survive.”

“I’m sure we’ll manage.”

“With just the two of you?” Vivi hesitated. She hadn’t told Cricket about Robin’s identity mostly out of a thought that Robin would be more comfortable if there was no risk at all of being betrayed for her bounty, but the decision was made for her when an arm grew out of the table to pat Cricket’s arm reassuringly.

“We’ll be fine, Mr. Montblanc.”

Cricket looked vaguely disturbed, which was fair, but didn’t have any further questions as to whether or not they could pull it off. Vivi thought about Usopp’s version of the story, and how upset Luffy said the Skypieans were about what had become of Noland after they were sent into the sky, and had an idea. “Mr. Montblanc, would you mind if I took this book?” She held up the storybook, and Cricket shrugged.

“It’s not actually mine. Masira and Shoujou brought it with when they came to join me, so you’d have to ask them.” Vivi nodded, tucking it under her arm. If they told her she couldn’t she’d have to steal it, but she’d rather not need to.

When she and Robin made it back outside, the ship was barely visible beneath the scaffolding the brothers and their crew had constructed. Vivi called out to Masira and Shoujou, but as thick in the action as they were, they didn’t seem to hear her. Robin crossed her arms, and a moment later the brothers shrieked and fell off their perches, causing no small commotion among the men on deck. Vivi shot a glare at Robin, who didn’t even look sorry.

When the brothers had picked themselves up, or in Masira’s case, once he swam back to shore, they planted themselves in front of Vivi and Robin. “That’s a neat trick you have there. Is it a Devil Fruit power?”

“It is. I ate the Flower-Flower fruit, and can grow any part of my body from any surface I can see.” She crossed her arms again, growing her hands out of Shoujou’s head to look like antlers. Masira burst into tears of laughter, and Vivi smirked. Luffy and Usopp would love that.

Once Robin let the arms disappear, Masira collected himself. “You wanted to talk to us?”

Vivi pulled out the book, holding it forward with a smile. “I was wondering if I could keep this book. I’d never seen the story before, and I have a friend who’d love to hear it.”

Masira nodded, waving a hand. “Sure, why not? It’s not like we need to keep it. Shoujou has the whole thing memorized, and can recite it from memory, silly voices and all!” The elder brother flushed, though whether it was in anger or embarrassment was unclear. Vivi smiled, and even Robin cracked a grin. Someone dropped something on the deck of the ship and it landed with a crash, though since nobody seemed particularly bothered by it probably hadn’t broken anything important.

“When do you think the modifications will be done?”

“Well, our men are hard at work, so everything should be ready by nightfall. Of course, you won’t want to set out when it’s dark, so you’re welcome to spend the night with us.”

“We’d be honored. Is there anything we can do to help?” It was more of a show of politeness than an actual offer, because the brothers’ crews clearly had the kind of rhythm going that a newcomer would only disrupt.

“Oh, thank you for the offer, but we have it covered. We wouldn’t mind Miss Robin lending a hand or five, though.” Masira grinned at her, but she shook her head.

“I’m afraid I don’t have the artistry needed for construction work. Best to leave it to the professionals.” Masira blushed at the praise, and Vivi remembered that Robin must have developed diplomatic skills as a necessity in her life on the run. As the brothers turned to get back to work, she called out one last time.

“Oh, Mr. Masira, I just remembered something! Do you think you could get something from my room for me?”

“Of course.”

“There’s a book on the table next to my bed. I need that, and the strings on top of it.”

“Sure thing. Which one is your room?” She pointed it out, and within five minutes she had her prototype Peacock Slashers and the fledgeling list of things yet to come. She flipped through it until she reached Skypiea, and scanned through that until she found the part she was looking for.

“I assume there’s a reason we need that book.”

Vivi nodded, folding the list and tucking it into her pocket. “When Noland came to this island and found the city of gold, it was inhabited. The inhabitants adored him, after some initial conflicts, and when he left they promised to ring the golden bell every day until his return. The bell was lost when the island was sent into the sky, though I know how to find it, and the descendants of the people Noland befriended still live there.” The book didn’t fit in her pocket, so she put it on the ground and made a mental note to grab it later. “If they find out that Noland’s memory has been tarnished here, and that his descendant is waiting for proof that he wasn’t a liar, I’m sure they’ll help us.”

“And lead us to the Poneglyph. Impressive.” Vivi had all but forgotten about the Poneglyph, and she hoped that it didn’t show on her face. She didn’t want lose the burgeoning trust between her and Robin, especially since she still wasn’t sure how to convince her to stay after they found the Poneglyph.

“We need their help for something else too. Skypiea is currently ruled by a man named Eneru, and he doesn’t let anyone even set foot in the place where the bell is. He’s a lightning Logia, and we have no way to stop him. We’ll need all the help we can get to defeat him.”

“How was he defeated before? Can’t we replicate that?”

Vivi laughed. “Not unless we have Luffy. He ate a Devil Fruit himself, and was made entirely of rubber, so he was completely immune to Eneru’s attacks. Without Luffy, you’d need either seastone or haki, and we have neither.”

“If you’d told me we’d be meeting a Logia, I could have taken some seastone from Crocodile’s stores. He was planning to build a cage out of it, so we had plenty to spare.”

Vivi almost laughed. “I remember.” Robin raised an eyebrow, but didn’t question it. Vivi slid the Peacock Slasher onto her finger, spinning it around a few times. She looked at Robin, and swallowed. “Do you think you could help me practice? Not just with this, but with hand-to-hand combat. If I want to be able to stay with Luffy once we get him, I need to be stronger.”

Robin smiled, and an instant later grabbed Vivi’s arm. The Peacock Slasher flew off her finger, since this was still the prototype and hadn’t been properly adjusted to fit perfectly, and a second later Robin’s arm was at her throat. “You’re right, Miss Princess. You’re weak.”

She let go, and before Vivi could attempt to gather up the shreds of her dignity an arm sprouted out of the ground to throw her back the Peacock Slasher. “You’re weak, but you have potential. I can’t show you martial arts, as my own fighting style is impossible to replicate, but I can help you train against someone who is faster, stronger, and smarter than you are.”

Vivi knew better than to argue any of those points, so she nodded. “Thank you, Robin.”

“My pleasure, Miss Princess. Let’s start with your stance.”

By the time lunch was ready, Vivi was sure she was going to be bruised in the morning. Robin didn’t pull punches, though since she wasn’t using her Devil Fruit Vivi didn’t have any broken bones yet. She’d never had the misfortune of seeing what Robin’s powers made her capable of, but she’d heard stories, and “acute spinal cord trauma” never ended well for the recipient. Robin gave her another rare smile as they made their way over to the huge pot of stew Cricket had prepared. The ship’s modifications were starting to take shape, and Vivi could see the skeleton of a wing on either side of the hull. Thankfully, nothing was set up around the prow, so they would not have to bear the shame of a flying chicken.

The afternoon flew by, and before Vivi knew it the sun was setting and Robin had knocked her down more times than she cared to count. She liked to think that she was improving, but it felt more like every time she tried to fix one mistake Robin defeated her and pointed out another. As she picked herself up from the latest blow, Cricket cleared his throat behind her.

“If you’re done attacking each other, dinner’s ready.” Vivi nodded, and even as Cricket turned to yell the news out to the men working on the ship they all cheered. Vivi realized that they must be celebrating the completion of the ship’s modifications, and grinned.

Robin took the opportunity to sweep her feet out from under her. She landed painfully on her ass, which while not new was still embarrassing. “Your mistake that time was letting my ally distract you while I moved in for the killing blow.” Vivi nodded in understanding as she picked herself up, attempting to internalize that lesson before Robin bruised it into her. Marks of earlier failed lessons were already starting to form on her arms, though thankfully she had relearned the Peacock Slashers fast enough to only have one small cut on her hand.

“Can we break for the night now?” She didn’t want to sound like a wimp, but at the same time she had done this before, and knew the importance of pacing herself. To her relief, Robin nodded, and started walking towards the spot where Cricket had set up his outdoor kitchen.

“We’ll pick this up tomorrow. I believe you’re beginning to improve, Miss Princess. With any luck you’ll be combat ready by the end of the week.” Vivi flashed a quick smile at her, and took the opportunity to look over at the ship. A pair of wings stuck out from the hull, and she wasn’t too keen on their chances of survival if a storm hit before the knock-up stream arrived, but with any luck they would work just fine. Vivi knew Nami had mentioned that there was a trick to riding a column of water thousands of feet into the air, but she couldn’t remember it. She figured that it would come to her when it became necessary.

Dinner was yet another stew, which Vivi didn’t begrudge because it was one of the few dishes that could be easily made for large groups. She was sure that Sanji could have made something even more magnificent, but daydreaming about Sanji’s food would only make her less likely to appreciate the meal in front of her. She finished every last bite, and was content to sit back and listen as Masira and Shoujou’s men told stories of their various adventures through the Grand Line. They ended up telling a few about ships that fell from the sky, and Vivi grinned.

“The crews of those ships were punished to starve to death on a small floating piece of cloud, and when it finally disappeared their ship and bodies fell to the ocean below.” Everyone stared at her, and she realized that she probably shouldn’t have said that.

“Who told you that?”

“My- my friend who’s been there before.”

Cricket stared at her, and Vivi cursed internally. “You said you only thought he’d passed through. How could he have told you stories about the place?”

Luckily, Robin came to Vivi’s rescue. “Her friend went to the sky island a few years ago, and told her some stories. It’s how we know it exists. We believe he may have returned there, and are hoping that it was recent enough that there may be some hints to his current location.” They seemed to accept that, thankfully, and Vivi grinned. Robin was much better at lying on the spot than she was, though given time to prepare Vivi could match her skill. Of course, neither of them was at Usopp’s level, though he tended to take it too far past the realm of plausibility.

Masira and Shoujou decided to lead their men into some loud dance that Vivi had never heard of, and with how sore she still was from training earlier she wasn’t in the mood to participate. She was sure that if her friends were there, they would have joined in happily and dragged her with, sore or not, and missed them so terribly it hurt. She excused herself, laying in her cabin away from the noise of the party and trying to reassure herself that once they got the gold from Skypiea, the hardest part would be over.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I'm sorry this took so long to update! Real life is a bitch, though now that it's summer I should be able to work on this more.

They set off shortly after breakfast, stores replenished by their generous host. They technically had another day or two to safely stay on the island without the Log Pose resetting, but Vivi was loath to infringe upon Cricket’s hospitality, and especially didn’t want to risk staying too long and missing their chance at Skypiea. Robin had assured her that it would be child’s play to follow along next to the Millennium Cumulonimbus, especially once they got close enough to see the shadow it cast, and they followed the Log Pose dutifully across open ocean for a few hours. When the sun was directly overhead and the oppressive shadow was still nowhere in sight, they broke for lunch, and Robin kept an eye on the deck to make sure they didn’t get off course during the meal.

While they washed up, Robin paused suddenly, and Vivi glanced over to the porthole to find that she couldn’t see anything. It was black as night without the comfort of the moon or stars, and she wondered just how vast Skypiea was that she couldn’t even see the sun on the horizon. She wasn’t sure whether to be unnerved by how surreal it was or pleased that they were that much closer to their goal. “We seem to have found it, then.”

“Indeed. There are still at least four days before the knock-up stream, though. What do you suggest we do in the meantime, Miss Princess?”

Vivi stared up at the black sky, biting her lip as she thought. “Do you think we can continue my combat training while we wait?”

She smiled, and Vivi’s bruised legs twinged. “It would be my pleasure. Shall we raise the sails and begin?” After a long look at the sky, Vivi nodded, and managed to pull out her Peacock Slashers fast enough to counter Robin’s inevitable first attack.

Hours later, Vivi had to blink away spots when the light of the setting sun momentarily blinded her. Thankfully, Robin was similarly inconvenienced, so she wasn’t punished for her distraction with yet another bruise. By now she’d gotten good enough at falling that her ego was bruised more than anything else, which Robin assured her was a sign that she was getting better. As her training in the other timeline had been mostly with Igaram, who had been reluctant to attack her in any way, Vivi had to take her word for it.

“It appears the island has moved on.” Vivi looked at the log pose as her vision cleared, and followed the needle to see the edge of a cloud so large that when looking at its center, she couldn’t quite make out the edges.

“Drop the sails. We need to follow it.”

They continued like that for the next few days, raising the sails and dropping the anchor within the cloud’s shadow and training until it passed overhead. During breaks and meals, Vivi told Robin everything she could think of about the Straw Hat Pirates. Sanji and Nami got slightly more attention than the others, as they were the two whose skills they were most in need of at the moment, but both of them paled next to how much Vivi talked about Luffy. She was certain that Robin was sick of Luffy by now, but to Vivi’s delight she kept asking for stories about all of them.

When the day of the knock-up stream arrived, it felt almost unusual not to be training right after breakfast, though her bruises certainly weren’t complaining. According to Cricket, the knock-up stream would hit at noon, so after consulting Robin Vivi decided that they should sail under the Millennium Cumulonimbus around eleven o’clock. If they angled themselves opposite its direction of travel, that would be enough to get them to the center, which with the help of Robin’s eyes should be enough to find the whirlpool. Vivi had thankfully remembered that small detail the previous night, though she was sure she was still forgetting something.

By the time noon came around, they were far enough under the cloud that the midday sun couldn’t reach them at all, and Vivi tried to stay calm as she stared as far as she could through the darkness. If the missed this chance, there might not be another for months, and she wasn’t sure if their supplies would hold out. As she gazed out, the ship creaked beneath her feet, and she realized with a lurch that they were moving despite having raised the sails.

“Do you feel that?”

“Yes, Miss Princess. We seem to have found our whirlpool.” The ship creaked as it was drawn further in, and Robin smiled. “If we capsize, at least our corpses may reach the sky island.” Vivi shuddered at the dark humor, and when a particularly strong jolt shook the ship she crashed into the railing and looked over the side.

“Robin, do we have any oars?” Luckily, she seemed to understand, and crossed her arms. Within a minute, oars started sticking out of the holes like a porcupine prickling up, and Robin started to row against the current. Vivi braced herself as well as she could, knowing that there was nothing she could do to help that Robin wasn’t already doing. After a minute, drifting constantly closer to the terrifying center, it vanished as suddenly as it appeared, and Vivi ran forward to drag Robin into her cabin and off the deck. Almost as soon as the door shut, the knock-up stream went off, and they crashed into the wall hard enough that Vivi could swear she heard the planks creak. If they hadn’t been inside, they would have been thrown clear off the ship, which would have been quite an early and undignified end to their journey.

Robin grew an arm to open the door, which was now on the ceiling, and they looked up and out to see the prow of the ship framed by a pillar of white water. Gravity seemed to shift, and Vivi remembered in a flash of horror what she’d been forgetting.

“Robin, let down the sails. We need to ride the current up, or we’ll be pushed off and fall!”

“That would be an interesting way to die. I wonder if those brothers would find our corpses.” Despite the morbid commentary, she crossed her arms again, and a few dozen arms pulled the sails down in a burst of flower petals. They filled with air almost immediately, and Vivi turned to Robin with a smile.

“Could you give me a lift? I want to get on deck.” Robin waved an arm, growing a ladder of legs, and Vivi tried not to be creeped out as she climbed it. When both of them were on deck, it was obvious that the wings had been attached for a reason, because they were literally flying up the side of the column of water. She looked up to see the cloud above getting closer, and braced herself for impact when they showed no sign of slowing down.

To her surprise, there was no tangible impact, though it felt like she swallowed some seawater, and a few seconds later they were flying above the clouds into bright sunlight. She was temporarily blinded, though that took a backseat to the wave of terror when the ground fell away beneath her. They were in freefall for no more than two seconds, and when her face hit the deck Vivi had never been happier to feel something solid beneath her. She staggered to her feet, coughing up water, and glanced to the sides to see that the wings grafted onto the side of the ship had snapped off. They appeared to be floating on top of the clouds, and she turned to Robin to make sure that she was okay.

“That was interesting.” Robin was soaked, and Vivi couldn’t help but laugh at the juxtaposition of her calm and collected friend dripping water onto the ship’s deck.  She had to stop rather quickly, since apparently the sheer height of the cloud meant that the atmosphere was thinner, and therefore there was less air to breathe.

“That’s one way to put it, yes.” She rubbed her eyes, looking at the log pose with a smile. “Only a little further, and we’ll be at Skypiea. Well, a little further and we’ll be closer. It’ll still take a bit before we can get to the island itself.” In theory, they could go straight to Vearth, but that would be suicide if they weren’t prepared for Eneru.

“What’s up here besides the other half of Jaya?”

Vivi realized she must have forgotten to mention any of the details, and winced. “I said that when the other half of Jaya was sent into the sky, the golden bell was lost, but that’s really only half of the story. The only reason it was never recovered is that there were already people living in the sky.” Robin’s brow creased momentarily before smoothing out again.

“Is the Eneru you mentioned earlier one of those people?”

“Yes, he is. They call themselves Skypieans, and the descendants of the people of Jaya are the Shandians. They’ve been at war for 400 years.”

“And we’re going to exacerbate the conflict for our own purposes?” 

Vivi sighed and reminded herself that Luffy did the same thing, and everyone was much happier afterwards, so it would be fine. “That’s one way to phrase it, yes. After Luffy defeated Eneru and rang the bell, the war ended, and they found a peaceful solution. Once we do the same, everything will be fine.”

“Do you have a plan yet to defeat him?” Vivi gritted her teeth, turning the wheel to direct them along the path indicated by the log pose.

“No, but I’m working on it.”

Sadly, the wind wasn’t blowing in the proper direction, so Robin salvaged as many of the oars as she could and began to row. Vivi went to the chest where they had put the bounty from the Brothers of Ophelia and pulled it all out, counting it carefully before putting it back in neat stacks. With luck, the gatekeeper would be able to exchange Beris for Extols, but if not she would politely ask to be redirected to someone who could. She wanted to be able to move freely for at least a little while without being hunted down by the White Berets, especially for something as simple as an entry fee.

“Miss Princess, I see something on the horizon. Should we head towards it?”

“Please.” By the time Vivi made her way back onto the deck with the chest of money, the speck Robin saw was visibly a waterfall, though there were things that looked like boulders preventing them from seeing its base.

“Is that our destination?”

“Not exactly. There should be a woman there, and once we’ve paid the entrance fee she’ll get us where we need to go. Those cloud lumps are solid, so we’ll need to navigate between them to get there.” Robin’s eyes were able to grow on the cloud boulders, making navigation much easier, which Vivi was grateful for. They finished the approach in silence, and Vivi was pleased to note that her breathing was starting to get closer to normal. She doubted that she’d be able to reach full strength in the low oxygen, but hopefully she wouldn’t be gasping for air. Robin didn’t seem to be having the same problem, but she might just be better at hiding it.

As soon as they cleared the field of cloud boulders, the waterfall in its entirety was clearly visible, including the structure at its base. “Heaven’s Gate? How odd. It’s almost as if we’ve died and travelled to another realm.”

Vivi ignored Robin’s morbid glee, choosing instead to grab the chest of money and wait. True to expectations, after a few seconds an elderly woman emerged from a door at the base of the gate. She held a shell up to her face, and it made two clicking noises before she lowered it. “Are you here for sightseeing, or to fight?”

“Just sightseeing, ma’am.”

“Very well. Each of you must pay the 1 billion Extol fee. It’s the law.” Robin raised an eyebrow. “Or you could not pay. It’s okay either way.”

Vivi plastered on the nicest smile she could muster. “Of course we’ll pay. The thing is, we were in such a hurry to get here, we forgot to exchange our Beris for Extols. Would it be possible to do that here, or is there somewhere else we need to go?”

The old woman lowered the shell, slipping it into a pocket of her dress. “Give me the sum you would like exchanged. I do charge a fee, of course.”

“That’s fine. Please take the entrance fee for two people, as well.” The woman didn’t seem at all surprised to hear that there were only two of them, and Vivi remembered Nami mention that there were other ways to reach Skypiea which were much less likely to bring the entire crew there safely. The elderly woman stepped inside, and Robin turned to Vivi.

“One billion each?”

“An Extol is about ten thousand Beris, so it’s about two hundred thousand Beris.”

“That’s still a steep charge.”

Vivi remembered Luffy laughing about how Nami had reacted to the increased fee, and smiled. “It’s worse if you try to go on without it.” The woman emerged holding a thick stack of bills, which she dropped into the cloud water. Before Vivi could complain, they landed on something just below the surface, and started moving towards the ship.

“The Speedy Shrimp will take you up. I hope you enjoy your stay. Or not. It’s okay either way.” The shrimp flicked the stack of money onto the deck of the ship before diving below it and grabbing onto the stumps of the wings, pulling the ship forwards. Vivi nearly fell over, and barely grabbed onto the railing before the shrimp started to climb the waterfall. Robin secured herself in place with her powers, and Vivi was relieved to see that she also grabbed the wad of Extols.

“How is it possible that we are climbing up a cloud?”

“I’m not actually sure. I believe it’s a manmade path that the Speedy Shrimp is capable of swimming up, though I’m not certain.” As they zoomed forward, she followed the ribbon of cloud to its end, a steadily growing circle of light. “We’re almost there, hold on.”

Just before they reached the top, she noticed a sign that read “Godland Skypiea” and wondered if it was installed before or after Eneru took over. The Speedy Shrimp threw them out the top, and as they soared through the air Vivi glanced over to see Robin’s wonderstruck face. As first impressions go, Skypiea made an amazing one, and in the early afternoon sunlight it was one of the most picturesque islands she’d ever seen.

“This is Skypiea?” Vivi nodded, and Robin let slip the most genuine smile Vivi had seen from her since the Reverie. “It’s beautiful.”

A slight breeze was enough to carry them to shore, and Robin tossed the anchor overboard and raised the sails while Vivi picked up the Extols and waded onto the cloud beach. The cloud water was much thinner than seawater, though if she remembered right it had the same effect on Devil Fruit users, and after a moment Robin joined her.

“Where to now, Miss Princess?”

“I’m not entirely sure.” Nami said that they’d been met on the beach by a girl named Conis, who explained many of Skypiea’s traditions to them. However, no harp-playing angel was in sight, so she had to improvise. “We should probably follow the coast. I’m pretty sure I saw a town when we flew up, and they should be able to help us find our way around.”

The long walk into town was done in silence, since both girls were too busy admiring the scenery to think of conversation topics. When they finally rounded a corner to see what looked like a bustling market, the villagers didn’t even give them a second glance, and she guessed that tourists must not be as much of an oddity as she’d assumed. She remembered Nami talking about her waver, and how much she regretted not being able to bring it up to the Reverie to show off, and Vivi looked around until she spotted what looked like a canal full of the thinner clouds which served as water here. If anyone here sold wavers, it would be there, and she made her way over.

“Hello, miss. How can I help you today?” The salesman smiled at her, and she looked behind him to see something that looked a lot like Nami’s description of a waver. She tried to remember everything Nami ever taught her about bargaining, and fluttered her eyelashes. According to Nami, that made most men (and a fair number of women) let their guards down.

“Well, sir, I saw the amazing machines you have here and couldn’t help but come look at them myself. What are they?”

“Oh, you’re not from around here, are you miss? I should have guessed from the lack of wings. Well, these are called wavers. It takes years of practice to master them, but once you’ve managed that there’s no better way to get around. They’re powered by wind dials- do you know what those are, miss?”

She pretended to rack her brains, still playing dumb. “I think so, yes. You store something and can retrieve it later, correct?”

“Just so, miss. Wavers store wind in the dials at the base, then release it using these levers here to propel you across the ocean without having to depend on which way the wind is blowing at the time. Of course, the current and the waves can still capsize you if you aren’t careful, but as long as you get plenty of practice before attempting to tackle rough waters I’m sure an intelligent young woman such as yourself should be fine.” He grinned, and Vivi smiled back.

“That sounds wonderful. How much do they cost?” She fluttered her eyelashes again, and the man’s grin widened.

“For a beautiful girl like you, I wouldn’t dare charge more than 500 thousand Extols.”

Vivi did the math in her head. That came out to about half of what they had left, and when she considered how little else they needed to buy it was quite reasonable. “Well then, sir, I believe you have a customer.” She pulled the money out of her pocket, but before she could count it out and hand it over Robin cleared her throat behind her.

“I’m sorry, sir, but that price seems a little steep. I heard that one of the stores a little further down is selling them for no more than 350 thousand, and if you’re going to just rip off my companion then I’m afraid we’re going to have a problem.”

Vivi realized with a jolt that after all the preparation she did, she completely forgot to actually bargain the price down. Her face warmed up, and she was glad that Nami wasn’t there to witness a failure of such magnitude. She scolded herself internally while Robin bartered the price to 375 thousand Extols, and took the handlebars of the surprisingly light machine as they walked away.

“Miss Princess, I was under the impression you had experience with marketplaces.” The glint of humor in Robin’s mood was a pleasant enough departure from her former stoicism that Vivi was willing to overlook the subtle dig at her competence and refrain from responding. “Is there anything else you wanted to purchase, or are we done here?”

Vivi let Robin take the lead in acquiring the various dials she remembered Nami mentioning as components in her Clima Tact, plus a few additional ones that she just knew Franky and Usopp would love. She deliberately avoided picking up a scent dial, since however useful it would be for storing perfume she would never risk inflicting such a concentrated smell on Chopper. They left the store a few thousand Extols poorer, Robin carrying the bags of dials while Vivi steered the waver back towards the ship.

“What is our course of action now, Miss Princess?”

“We get back to the ship, put everything away, grab the Liar Noland book, and go find the Shandians.”

“And after that?”

Vivi chewed on her lip for a second before remembering that it was an un-princessly thing to do. She then remembered she was a pirate now, and stopped biting anyways. “I’m not sure. It depends on what the Shandians say.”

Robin nodded, and the girls made their way back to the ship in silence. Once the dials had been safely tucked away in her cabin and the waver stuffed in the hold, they stood on deck, staring at Vearth across the sea of clouds.

“Where do the Shandians live?”

Vivi opened her mouth to respond, only to close it when she realized she had no idea.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that this update took so long to publish. I've been dealing with some things irl, and haven't been able to work on this story as much as I hoped. I will do my best to get the next chapter up within a week, though!

Robin returned after about fifteen minutes, frowning.

“Did you find out where the Shandian camp is?”

“Unfortunately not, but I was told that when the raiders come, it’s usually from the East.” It seemed like she had more she wanted to say about the raiders, but was holding back. Vivi thought she understood the feeling.

“All right, then we’ll sail that way until we find something.”

“Or until someone finds us.” Vivi remembered Usopp’s dramatic retelling of how they were attacked by a Shandian warrior mere minutes after entering the clouds, and hoped they wouldn’t be that unlucky. It took a few minutes to get the ship ready to set out, but once preparations were done they were skimming across the surface of the clouds. The sun was starting to dip towards the horizon, and Vivi thought for a moment of how beautiful the sunset would be.

After about an hour of sailing, they could no longer see the main island behind them. The cloud ocean stretched across the horizon in all directions, and Vivi was beginning to wonder whether or not they were heading the right way. She knew she had to get used to not knowing exactly what to do next, as this was the single portion of Luffy’s adventures she knew in the most detail, not counting the parts which she was there to witness. Still, if they couldn’t convince the Shandians to help, there was no way they could beat Eneru, and without defeating him there was no way they’d be able to ring the bell and convince the Skypieans to give them the money needed for Franky to build the Sunny.

Before she could get any further into the list of things which would be impossible if things went wrong here, Robin cleared her throat, and Vivi followed her line of sight to see a dozen masked men skimming across the surface of the clouds. It felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest, and she ran to the railing, waving her arms to get their attention.

“Excuse me! Warriors of Shandia, can I talk to you for a moment?” They either saw or heard her, because they changed course and started heading towards their ship.

“Are you certain that was wise, Miss Princess? The people I questioned did not have many pleasant stories to tell about how the Shandians deal with people from the Blue Seas.” Vivi shrugged, letting her arms fall to her sides.

“If they try to attack us, we’ll stop them. In the other timeline, you told me that they only attack Blue Sea ships when they mistake them for Skypiean ones, so we should be fine.” The minute or two waiting for the raiders to arrive were silent, and when they were within firing range Robin crossed her arms in preparation.

Vivi cleared her throat before waving again, then cupping her hands around her mouth. “Warriors of Shandia, we come in peace. We are travellers from the Blue Seas, and have certain business to discuss with your leader.” The warriors slowed to a stop, still within firing range, and glanced between themselves. In apparent response to some unseen signal, the one in the front took off their mask to reveal a rather pretty woman with long dark hair.

“How are we to know that you weren’t sent by God to trick us into revealing our home?”

She hadn’t thought that of that as a possibility, but it seemed like Robin had. “We have no proof, but you are free to search our ship. The only contact we’ve had with the Skypieans was to purchase a few trinkets, nothing more.”

There was another bout of silent communication, which quickly evolved into whispers before the woman in front held up a hand, silencing her companions. “What do you want to discuss with our leader?”

“We want to take down God, and we need your help to do it.”

That got a reaction, and the woman glared at the others until they stopped talking. “If one of you will come down to meet us, I’ll have a few of my men search your ship to confirm your story.” Vivi nodded, getting ready to climb over the railing and jump overboard, but Robin stopped her with a hand on her arm.

“I’ll do it, Miss Princess. If something goes wrong, I’d prefer to be close to the one in charge.” Vivi nodded, and thought that Robin put extra effort into looking like it took no effort at all to lower herself over the side of the ship with a chain of limbs. The Shandians looked suitably impressed, though it was hard to tell exactly what they were thinking through the large masks, and when she reached sea level Robin cleared her throat.

“I am, unfortunately, quite unable to swim. Would one of you mind coming closer to give me a hand?” Seven of the dozen raiders moved forward, and Vivi was able to see that they were staying afloat using dial-powered skates of some kind. Two of them grabbed Robin between them and moved back to the woman in charge, and Vivi stepped back as the other five jumped high enough off the surface of the clouds to land on deck. As they started looking around, Vivi retreated into her room to grab the Liar Noland book and her list of future events.

When she opened the door to go back onto the deck, she came face to face with one of the masked warriors. They winced at her small shriek of surprise, and lifted the mask to reveal a boy who couldn’t have been much older than her. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. What do you have there?”

She clutched the items tighter. “Some personal effects I don’t want you snooping into.”

He held up his hands in mock surrender. “Fine, fine.” He leaned to the side to look into her room. “Well, it doesn’t look like you’re hiding any Skypiean warriors in there.” Instead of continuing to search like everyone else, he stayed next to Vivi, and she suspected that he was there to keep her in check in case something went wrong.

It took less than three minutes to search the ship, and when all five of the Shandians were back on deck the man next to her turned to shout at the warriors still on top of the clouds. “All clear, Laki. Nothing in the hold but basic supplies, some dials, and a waver.”

“All right then. You girls said you wanted to talk to our leader, right?” Vivi nodded. “What are your names?”

“I’m Vivi, and that’s Robin.”

“Nice to meet you. My name is Laki.” She started forward, and the others followed, jumping up onto the deck like the others had a few minutes before. The ones who had been holding onto Robin let go, and she moved to stand next to Vivi, shooting a cold stare at the warrior who had startled her earlier.

“My name is Kamakiri. Pleased to make your acquaintances.” Vivi smiled at him, though Robin’s expression didn’t change.

Laki took the helm, and Vivi and Robin stepped back to let the Shandians steer the ship towards their home. It seemed like this wasn’t the first time they’d taken over a ship, the implications of which she did her best to ignore, and a few minutes later she spotted a mass of clouds poking up above the horizon. The ship changed course slightly to head for it, and Vivi wondered why they still couldn’t see the village.

Robin helped throw the anchor overboard, though she neglected to use her powers to do so, and they lowered the gangplank as the Shandians just jumped down onto the island cloud. They were nice enough to wait for Vivi and Robin to join them before heading further inland, and after a minute or two of walking in silence Vivi spotted a darker spot in the cloud. As they approached it, she realized that it was actually a staircase leading down, and she understood why the Skypieans had never managed to locate the Shandian camp.

“You live underground?” Laki nodded, and Kamakiri elaborated.

“We have no choice. This is the only place we’ve found in the entirety of the White Sea that the Skypieans have not quickly discovered and attacked. We suspect that they have some kind of vantage point on the giant beanstalk which allows them to see anything on the surface of the clouds for miles around.” From what Nami had told her, that was almost certainly the case. “It’s not too bad, though. Light filters down through the clouds, so it’s not completely dark.”

Vivi considered what she knew about the Shandians, and all the unfairness they’d suffered at the hands of the Skypieans. She truly hoped that defeating Eneru and ringing the bell would be enough to bring the two groups of people together, but she had been wrong before about what would be necessary to stop a war. She shook off the bad memories as they went down the stairs, focusing instead on the present.

The Shandian village was a bit smaller than she’d expected, and it seemed like the entire tribe was gathered to see the strangers. Vivi supposed that this might be the first time many of them had ever seen someone from the Blue Seas, given how rare it was for anyone from the surface to make it all the way up to the White Sea in the first place. She smiled and waved at a young girl, who waved back before her mother stepped protectively between them.

“Who are these women, Laki? Why have you brought them to our village?” A young man stepped forward, and the people parted to let him through. Vivi wondered if he was the chief, but remembered Sanji mentioning that a wizened old man had introduced himself as the chief of the Shandians before asking for some of his recipes.

“Calm down, Wyper. They said they wanted to defeat God Eneru, but they need our help to do it.” He glared at Laki, who just glared back until Wyper gave in.

“Well, you didn’t have to bring them all the way to the village. What if they’re spies?”

“No spy of Eneru’s would dare blaspheme against him, and he’s far too proud to order someone to denounce him just to find us. He underestimates us, remember?” Wyper nodded, but still didn’t look happy. “Anyways, they wanted to talk to the chief.”

“Who wants to talk to me?” An elderly man with a nice full beard stepped forward, and Vivi bowed in respect.

“Hello, sir. My name is Vivi, and this is my friend Robin. We’ve come to ask for your assistance in bringing down the tyrant Eneru.”

Robin gave a short bow of her own, though nowhere near as formal as Vivi’s, and the chief looked between them. “Why do you want to defeat him?”

“On the island where he lives, which your ancestors were forcibly removed from, there’s an ancient city. In the center of that city, there’s an enormous golden bell.” It looked like the Shandians were half a second away from attacking her, so she backtracked and held out the Noland the Liar book. “I know this because, about four hundred years ago, a man named Montblanc Noland came to the island of Jaya and heard the beautiful bell. He had to leave, but when he came back, half of the island was gone, along with the city and the bell. He was accused of lying and executed, and to this day his descendants are mocked for being related to the most infamous liar in the world.”

The chief nodded. “We have heard the stories, child. What of them?”

Vivi took a deep breath. “Robin and I were on Jaya less than a week ago, where we met a man named Montblanc Cricket. He is one of Noland’s descendants who was tormented for his heritage, and he now lives on the island of Jaya, risking his life to dive to the seafloor in search of proof that his ancestor wasn’t lying. We came here to find the ancient city and ring the bell, hoping that Cricket will hear it and know that he can stop looking. Unfortunately, with Eneru declaring the entire place his holy land, we need to defeat him to make that happen.”

The Shandians no longer looked like they wanted to attack her, but she wasn’t sure whether or not everyone being on the verge of tears was an improvement. After a long silence, Wyper stepped forward. “You’re saying that one of Montblanc Noland’s descendants is waiting on the Blue Sea for you to ring the bell?” Vivi nodded, and he wiped his eyes. “We’ll help you. What do you need us to do?”

Despite all her planning, she hadn’t really expected it to be that easy. “Well, I was thinking of committing a crime major enough to have us sentenced to God’s Judgement. If I’m taken to the altar, I know Robin can pass whatever test they throw at her to come meet me, and we can move from there to find the ancient city. What we really need is a distraction after that point, when we’re moving through the jungle. That would be where you come in.”

“You seem rather knowledgeable about Skypiea. Have you been here before?”

“No, unfortunately. This is the first time we’ve had the pleasure. However, one of her friends passed through here some time ago, and was quite descriptive.” Vivi sighed in relief. She wasn’t sure what she’d do without Robin there to help.

“Well, I’m not sure your friend did God’s Judgement justice. The ordeal requires you to fight one of Eneru’s top priests, and they’re no pushovers.”

Robin grew a hand out of his elbow to pat him on the shoulder, and Vivi beamed. “In that case, just let her know which of them would cause you the most trouble, and we can take care of one of your problems before it starts.”

“You have a Devil Fruit?” Laki poked the arm growing out of Wyper, and Robin nodded.

“I know that Eneru is a Logia, but I haven’t heard of any other Devil Fruit users on Skypiea. Are they truly that rare here?”

“Actually, as far as we can tell, Devil Fruits grow very well up here, but Eneru throws them away before anyone can eat them.” Laki shrugged. “We used to think he was scared of someone getting another Logia and becoming stronger than him, but at this point his ego’s gotten so big I’m not sure he thinks that’s possible. It may just be habit at this point.”

Wyper nodded, and hefted his weapon. “He doesn’t know that we got our hands on some seastone, or he’d be a lot more scared of us.”

Vivi stared for a few seconds. “You have seastone?”

“Not a lot, but enough. As far as I’ve heard, you only need a little to put a Devil Fruit user out of commission.” He touched the arm still growing out of his elbow, and it vanished in a flurry of petals.

Robin rubbed the corresponding spot on her arm with a grimace. “You’re correct, Mr Warrior. As long as you keep that in contact with him, Eneru will be an ordinary human being without any kind of abilities. In fact, if you have that, I’d advocate luring him out and taking him down yourself. You barely even need our help.”

Wyper looked pleased, but shook his head. “We’ve never been able to throw them off their game enough for Eneru to show himself. If you really think you can take down any of his priests, then try the Challenge of Iron. Ohm can be difficult to fight, even for us.” Robin nodded, and Wyper turned to Vivi. “So, just to clarify, you’re going to get captured and use the opportunity to enter our homeland without suspicion, then escape from the altar and go to the ancient city to ring the bell.” Vivi nodded. “Do you plan to do this today?”

“Well, yes. Would it be easier for you if we didn’t?”

He shook his head. “I can have the warriors ready to fight by sundown, if that’s enough time for you.”

Vivi attempted to glance at the sun to gauge the time, then remembered that she couldn’t see it through all the clouds. They hadn’t been in the village for very long at all, so sundown was probably still a few hours away. It had taken about an hour to reach the Shandian village, and unless they ran into any unexpected difficulties it shouldn’t take more than an hour for Robin to come rescue her. “I think that’ll be plenty of time. Thank you so much for agreeing to help us.”

“If you pull this off, we’ll be the ones thanking you. Until then, I wish you the best of luck.” The rest of the village chimed in, and Vivi bowed to the chief before turning to head back to the ship. Robin fell into step behind her, and they climbed the stairs into the afternoon sunlight.

“That went rather well. When you mentioned the ancient city, I half expected them to run you through.”

Vivi laughed. “So did I. Then again, I thought you were going to kill me when we first met, and look at us now.” She wondered if she had overstepped a boundary when Robin’s face froze, but the odd expression melted into a smile.

“It seems that history has the power to bring people together.” It seemed like she almost wanted to say more, but Vivi didn’t press, and they spent the rest of the short hike back to the ship in silence.

It didn’t take long to get the ship sailing again, though it took a while to figure out how to untie the knots Laki and her men had made to secure everything. Once they were moving, Vivi noticed that the cut she’d inflicted on herself during training had reopened, and Robin pulled a first aid kit seemingly out of nowhere. Vivi attempted to take it from her, but was instead pushed down onto a crate.

“Miss Princess, I am uniquely suited to understand how difficult it is to treat a hand injury. Let me.” Apparently, that was just an excuse to get Vivi sitting down and unable to escape, because as she cleaned the cut Robin started asking questions. “Your plan involves you getting captured and me coming to rescue you. When did you plan to tell me that?”

“Oh. I must have forgotten to mention it.”

Robin raised an eyebrow. “You forgot.”

Vivi closed her eyes, thinking through her plan. “We’re going to break the law and get arrested. I’m going to be taken to the altar, and you’re going to come rescue me, passing one of the ordeals using your Devil Fruit power. Once we meet up at the altar, the Shandians will attack Vearth, distracting Eneru long enough for us to climb the beanstalk and ring the bell.” She opened her eyes with a wince as Robin poured disinfectant on her hand.

“The bell is at the top of that giant beanstalk?” Vivi nodded, and Robin hummed in thought. “Do you happen to know where the Poneglyph is?”

Vivi shook her head. “All that Luffy said was that you found one. I know that you and Zoro explored the ruins of the city together, so you might have found it there. If we can’t find it before we ring the bell, then all we need to do is stay in Skypiea until we find it. It’s not like there’s anything we desperately need to be doing.” She thought for a second before correcting herself. “If it takes more than two years to find it, I may need to head back down to the Grand Line to make sure I meet up with Luffy in time.”

“Just you?” She started wrapping a clean bandage around Vivi’s hand.

“Well, it’s not like I could ask you to come with me if you were still looking for it. If it really takes that long to find it, then I can go and find everyone and get up here using the same stream that Luffy did in the other timeline.” Robin was silent, and Vivi shrugged. “If you’re still looking for it even then, we can just ask Zoro to go back to the ship, and he’s bound to get lost and stumble across it. That tends to happen.”

That got a chuckle out of her, and Vivi counted that a success. She wasn’t quite sure what had prompted Robin to ask these questions, but she could probably count them as a sign that they were growing closer, and that could only be a good thing.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been like two months, and I'm sorry. After this point, the story starts to pick up a bit, so I should be able to write faster and update more frequently.

By the time they got back to town, the sun was sinking dangerously low in the sky for their deadline of sunset. Robin dropped the anchor, and the girls waded to shore through the clouds. As they made their way up the path, she turned to Vivi.

“How are you going to get arrested?”

“The only crime I know of high enough to get us sentenced to God’s Judgement is attacking a member of the White Berets, so I suppose we’ll do that. I’ll get caught, and you’ll be sent to the ordeals.” She hesitated, thinking of what she knew about the priests. “As Wyper said, the most difficult one to defeat is Ohm and the Ordeal of Iron. If you take on any of the others, you’ll probably have an easier time of it.”

Robin gave her a funny look. “The warriors told us that I should fight him precisely because he’s the most difficult to defeat. All opponents are the same to me, with my Devil Fruit. Do you have any reason that I should fight someone else?”

Vivi realized that Robin thought she was doubting her skills, and hurriedly backtracked. “I know you could beat him, and that if we want to follow Wyper’s plan then maybe you should, but if you don’t want to you don’t have to. That’s all I meant.”

Robin smirked, and patted Vivi’s arm. “I’ll be fine, Miss Princess. So long as the enemy isn’t invisible, I can defeat him.”

Vivi smiled back at her, relieved that Robin at least seemed confident that everything would turn out okay. “He isn’t. The Devil Fruit which gives that ability belongs to a man named Absalom who works on Thriller Bark under Moria’s command.”

Robin stared for a moment, and Vivi had to remind herself that Robin did in fact know about the time travel, and she hadn’t just doomed herself by revealing she knew much more than she should. Finally, she nodded, looking away from Vivi and back to the path in front of them.

“Did Luffy fight him as well?”

Vivi nodded, mentally cataloguing all of the stories he’s heard which, directly or through inference, led back to Luffy. “He also stormed Enies Lobby, Impel Down, and Marineford, took out Doflamingo and Kaidou, and liberated Fishman Island from Big Mom to put it under his protection.”

Robin was back to staring, and Vivi realized how far-fetched that all must sound. “I thought that Fishman Island was under Whitebeard’s protection.”

“It was, but after he died they turned to Big Mom.” As the words left her mouth, she wondered if maybe she shouldn’t have said that, but since there was no way she was going to let the Summit War happen a second time it didn’t really make a difference. Robin shook her head as she turned back to the path, and the rest of the walk into the town was spent in silence.

Vivi spotted a cluster of White Berets, and nudged Robin’s arm to direct her attention to them. They strolled over, and Vivi greeted them with a smile. “Hello, sir! My friend and I were wondering what exactly you do here, since this place seems like such a utopia. Surely there isn’t much crime in these parts.”

“Oh, heso, miss. No, we don’t see much action, but every now and again some troublemakers show up from the Blue Seas, and we have to be ready to deal with them. There’s also the problem of heretics, though most days God takes care of those personally.”

Vivi nodded, which Robin took as a signal to begin attacking. She started tripping and slapping White Berets, thankfully avoiding her traditional method of breaking spines and necks, and Vivi reached for her Peacock Slashers. Before she could pull them out, one of the White Berets swung a fist at her head, and she was knocked out.

When she woke up, she was lying on stone instead of cloud, and she pushed herself up to look around at the tallest jungle she’d ever seen. Granted, the only other jungle she’d ever seen was on Little Garden, but these trees were tall enough that Dorry and Broggy would look like normal people standing next to them. A quick glance at the platform she was on was enough to tell that this was the sacrificial altar Nami had mentioned, and that meant that their plan had worked. She was a little disappointed in herself that it only took a single blow to knock her out, and wondered if Robin would be willing to help her train herself up in that respect.

Thinking of Robin, she looked at the lengthening shadows around her. The sun was too low in the sky to be visible through the trees, but there was still daylight, so she hadn’t been unconscious long enough to miss their deadline. She supposed that it might actually be a good thing that she was knocked out, because it meant that there was less time for her to spend sitting there alone and waiting for Robin to come rescue her. Strange birds called out from within the forest, and Vivi stood up and stretched, deciding to look around as much as she could while she waited.

Vivi hummed to herself as she examined the carvings on the altar, running fingers over the soft moss and sturdy vines which covered it. She wondered if the carvings were decorative or informative, and whether or not Robin would be able to tell. She could read Poneglyphs, but that didn’t mean she could decipher every ancient tongue in existence. Then again, if the people of Shandia had a Poneglyph, their language and carvings might be similar enough to it that Robin could get the general gist. Now that Vivi thought about it, she had no idea where the Poneglyphs came from or who put them there, and wondered if Robin knew or if finding out was part of her quest to discover the true history.

Her musings were interrupted by the sound of beating wings growing closer, and she looked up to see a man on an enormous bird flying towards the altar. She put her back to the wall, providing herself with something to push off of if she needed to dodge away quickly, and called out. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

The man pulled his mount to a standstill in the air above the altar, looking at Vivi as if she was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen. “You’re not trying to run away.”

Vivi remembered Chopper talking about a crazy guy who set Merry on fire with a lance, and eyed the man’s weapon with a frown. “I don’t need to run. Robin is going to pass the trial and come get me.”

He laughed, gesturing around at their surroundings. “Your friend chose the Trial of Iron, little girl. Ohm has never suffered anyone to pass, and once your friend is dead you’re fair game. Go on, run away. It makes for better sport.”

Vivi swallowed, preparing her peacock slashers. “Do you have the authority to do that? I thought that everyone on Vearth has a specific area that they take care of.”

The man laughed, hefting his spear in one hand. “You’re well informed, little girl. Each of us priests has our own area, and none of the others may interfere within that area. However, this altar is outside any of those, and therefore any of us may deal with the sacrifices who find their way here once their chosen champions have inevitably failed.” He glanced at the sky, then grinned at her. “Your friend must be dead by now. It’s a pity you didn’t run.”

The man’s bird screeched, and his spear lit on fire as his mount charged towards her. Vivi jumped to the side, lashing out with her slashers. One of them managed to clip the bird’s wing, and it screamed, nearly deafening her. The man wrenched his lance out of the wall, and Vivi noted in horror that it had sunk plural inches into the solid stone. She got her slashers spinning again, preparing for a second attack, and let them slow to a halt as pairs of arms grew out of both the man and his bird.

“Clutch.”

The sickening crack of breaking bones was enough to make Vivi wince, but she couldn’t fault Robin for her pragmatism when she was fairly certain that she wouldn’t have been able to beat that man on her own. She looked out to see Robin step off of a small dial powered boat and onto the steep steps of the altar.

“Are you alright? Did you make it through the trial okay?”

“I’m perfectly fine, Miss Princess. Who was that man?”

Vivi frowned down at him, taking in his odd outfit and hat. “I’m not certain. I think he said he was one of Eneru’s priests, though.” Robin nodded, and crouched down to rifle through his bag. “What are you doing?”

“Checking to see if he had some kind of map, or anything else which might be- oh.” She stopped, staring at whatever she had found. “Useful.”

“What is it?”

Robin pulled her hand out of the bag to hold up a small, round, purplish blue fruit covered in swirls. “It appears to be a Devil Fruit, though I’m not sure which one.”

Vivi was almost unable to breathe through the force of her grin. “I recognize it. It’s the Gum Gum fruit.” She took it gently, cradling it to her chest. “It’s Luffy’s.”

Robin raised an eyebrow, grabbing the entire bag and hefting it over her shoulder. “If it’s his, why doesn’t he have it?”

Vivi’s smile faded into a scowl. “He got it from Shanks. Without him to bring it Luffy, it never made its way to him. I’m not sure how it ended up in Skypiea, but I’m not complaining either.” She glanced up at Robin, who looked almost bemused. “If I can get Luffy to eat it, I’ll be one step closer to getting back the captain I knew.”

An explosion in the distance startled her, and Vivi looked around to try to see where it came from. The enormous trees prevented her from seeing very far, and Robin tapped her shoulder to get her attention. “Miss Princess, I believe that was the Shandians mounting their attack, and our signal to make our way towards the bell. Do you know which way to go?”

Vivi was going to say that they just needed to head for the stalk, but a quick glance around was enough to tell her that the trees were too thick here for her to make it out through the leaves. With that in mind, she squinted at the sky until she could pick out the glow of sunset over the trees. “The ancient city is pretty much due south, and the beanstalk grew straight through the middle of it.” She made her way down the stairs to the dial boat, glancing at the shore. They could probably climb up one of the roots, though that would require leaving behind the boat. Then again, they wouldn’t have much use for it, since they were either going to save the country and earn the gratitude of both Shandians and Skypieans or die trying. She sincerely hoped they would accomplish the former.

Once the fruit was safely stowed back in the bag, it didn’t take long to cross to the southern edge of the lake of clouds, though about halfway across Vivi remembered another thing Chopper told her about. “Oh, I forgot to mention. There are sky sharks in the clouds all around the altar, so we should be careful not to attract any of them.”

Robin turned away from the helm to stare at her, and Vivi knew she should have mentioned it earlier but she honestly forgot about the sharks. Thankfully, they made it to the roots without any of them showing up and attacking, and they stepped out onto solid land for the first time in a week. Vivi felt settled by the solid land under her feet,and knew that no matter how long she was at sea she would always feel better on the ground. She wondered if Sanji felt uneasy on dry land, and made a mental note to ask him when she got the chance.

They spent the trek south in silence, and Vivi accepted it, content to look at the jungle and wonder how long it would take them to discover the hidden ancient city. More explosions sounded in the distance as the sun set, and Vivi realized with a groan that they had neglected to bring any light sources. The obvious thing to do was wait until sunrise to keep searching, but it didn’t seem likely that the Shandians would be able to hold off Eneru and his priests for that long. From what Vivi remembered, almost all of the priests had been taken out by members of Luffy’s crew, and she wasn’t sure how much they could do without her incredibly powerful friends. Then again, Robin had already taken down two of them, so maybe the Shandians stood a chance.

Robin made a soft noise of triumph, and Vivi turned to see her pull a dial out of the bag. “If I remember correctly, the markings indicate that this is a light dial. If that priest charged it recently, it should be more than sufficient for our purposes.”

Vivi could have smacked herself for forgetting to bring one of the light dials they’d bought earlier, since they knew their trek would begin at sunset, but she opted instead to be grateful that Robin had found a solution. As the night darkened and all sounds of distant fighting were swallowed by the trees, it became harder and harder to see anything outside of the small area illuminated by the light dial. At the point where anything outside of their small circle of light was nothing more than a dark blur, Robin stopped without warning, and Vivi almost bumped into her.

“What is it?” She peered around, then followed Robin’s gaze to a small building covered in vines and moss. It was clearly older than the trees around it, given how they grew through it, and even if growth was accelerated above the clouds the jungle here had to be hundreds of years old. Vivi turned back to Robin with a grin. “We must be getting close.”

“I wonder who lived there, and why. Was it a lookout post, or were there originally more houses around here, and that’s the only one which stood the test of time?” She stepped towards it, holding the light dial higher and dropping the priest’s bag. When she was as close as she could get without starting to climb over giant roots, she stopped, staring up at the crumbling stone.

Vivi suspected they were thinking the same thing, and laid a reassuring hand on Robin’s arm. “I’m sure we can spare a few minutes for you to look it over.”

Robin shook her head, looking away. “We can come back later. For now, we need to find the bell.”

Vivi almost beamed, and slung the bag over her shoulder as the pair continued on through the jungle. She thought she heard a wolf howl, and shuddered, remembering the vicious creatures Chopper described from his home island. She cast about for something to distract herself from those thoughts, and remembered the fruit in the bag bouncing on her hip.

“Did I tell you much about Luffy’s Devil Fruit?”

Robin shook her head. “You said that he was made of rubber. Paramecia or Logia?”

“Paramecia. He got it when he was only seven years old, and yet he still figures out new tricks all the time. Apparently, when he went to save you from CP9 at Enies Lobby, he figured out how to use his Devil Fruit to pump his blood faster, which in turn made him faster and stronger. He also learned how to inflate his bones like balloons. I have no idea how he even thought of that, but Luffy is amazing like that. Zoro said that when he beat Doflamingo, he used another new technique which let him jump in midair.”

Robin actually turned to look at her, eyebrows raised. “He figured out how to fly?”

Vivi shrugged and smiled. “He couldn’t keep it up for long, the way Zoro described it.” She remembered something Franky had mentioned, and tilted her head. “Actually, Franky said you could fly too. Apparently, you grew wings with hands instead of feathers.”

Robin looked skeptical, then as if she was tempted to try it on the spot just to see if she could pull it off. Vivi laughed, then squinted off in front of them. It looked like there was light coming from in front of them, but only in front, so it couldn’t be moonlight. When it started to flicker, she got a bad feeling, but before she could voice her concern to Robin the trees thinned and they were staring at the base of the beanstalk.

Oddly enough, the first thing Vivi properly saw was Wyper, lying motionless on his side. She saw the smirking self-proclaimed God second.

“Hello, Blue Sea girls. I was wondering how long it would take you to get here.”

Robin immediately dropped the light dial and crossed her arms, growing limbs out of Eneru’s back and trying to grab him. As soon as one of them touched his shoulder, he fizzled out of existence, and Robin flinched away, her arms spasming.

“I see you have a Devil Fruit as well. It isn’t as good as mine, of course, but it seems interesting all the same.” He chuckled, and Vivi desperately tried to remember everything Nami had told her about Eneru. He was arrogant and cruel, but treated everything as a game until things started to go badly for him. He also had an incredible level of Observation Haki, which she only vaguely understood, and though he seemed to be able to read minds he could only really predict movement. Unfortunately, none of that gave her any ideas on how to defeat him. Without the natural resistance of rubber, there was basically nothing she could do.

Vivi took a nervous step backwards, unsure what to do, and promptly slipped and fell on her ass. The bag fell next to her, bouncing slightly, and Vivi realized there was something she could do after all. Eneru shot a bolt of lightning at Robin, who went down screaming, and Vivi scrambled to her feet. She took a step back towards the jungle and slipped on purpose, going against everything Robin told her about falling safely to ensure that she landed directly on the bag. She pulled it out from under her to check, confirming that the Gum Gum fruit had been completely crushed by her body weight.

“Miss Princess, run. I’ll hold him off.”

Vivi glanced over at Robin, amazed she was still conscious after that, but more surprised that a woman who almost killed her a week ago was saying that she would sacrifice herself for Vivi’s safety. “What’s the point? He’s a God, he can read minds. He’d catch me. The only way to survive is to join him.” She moved to her knees, pulling the bag in front of her.

“You have sense, girl, but why would I accept you as one of my own? You’re a blasphemous Blue Seas native with no skill to speak of.”

Vivi kept her eyes low, remembering years of classes on how to act towards someone who outranked you. “God Eneru, I know that my skills in combat are negligible, but I can serve you in other ways. My friend and I came here to your holy land in search of possible ingredients for our masterpiece, a concoction which, when ingested, increases the powers of a Devil Fruit user tenfold.” She looked at Robin again, noting with concern that she was no longer moving. “My friend would not have been able to withstand your unfathomable power even for an instant if she had not taken a dose before challenging the Trial of Iron. She defeated two of your priests with its power: the first during the trial, and the second when he attempted to take the remaining samples from me at the sacrificial altar.”

She took a shaky breath, surprised he had let her get this far into the story, and reached slowly into the bag, pulling out a chunk of Gum Gum with no visible markings. “We intruded on your holy land in search of rare ingredients to make even stronger versions of the supplement, and in penance I offer you everything we have made so far. You are welcome to all of it, as well as the depths of my research and anything I am able to create to further your glory.”

Eneru stepped towards her, lowering his staff slightly. “This morsel increases the power of a Devil Fruit?” He laughed. “My powers are all-encompassing, girl. I have no need of such things.”

Vivi took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. If this didn’t work, they were all dead anyways, so she might as well take a risk. “I know the location of the Shandian encampment, and I know that it is beyond even your range of power, because there is no other reason for you not to have smote the nonbelievers from the sky already. With this supplement, you can destroy them in one fell swoop.”

He reached forward and took the misshapen lump of fruit, and Vivi’s heart leapt. “I have known the location of the Shandian encampment for some time, insolent girl. Their struggles amuse me.” He leveled his staff at her, and she muttered an apology under her breath.

“I’m sorry, Luffy.”

The bolt of lightning hit her on the cheek, and she blacked out.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear. Real life got away from me, and then my computer broke down, but here's the next chapter. Sorry about leaving on a sour note for almost four months.

Vivi awoke to see two faces staring down at her in concern. She blinked until they solidified into more than blobs, and smiled to see both Wyper and Robin. Robin smiled back, and reached out an arm to help her sit up. Vivi looked between the two of them, then up at the sky, where she could see the stars for the first time all night. When she tore her gaze away from them, Robin and Wyper were still sitting there with her, and she grit her teeth against the lingering pain to start asking questions.

“What happened? The last thing I remember is being attacked by Eneru, and then nothing.”

Robin frowned, and Wyper pursed his lips. “We were hoping you could tell us, actually. I came to to find the two of you unconscious and Eneru dead, and when Robin woke up she...” He stopped, no doubt due to the smile of relief that crossed Vivi’s face. “What did you do?”

“I told him that we were here looking for a way to improve our Devil Fruit supplements and handed him a piece of the Gum Gum fruit. He must have eaten it after attacking me.”

Robin looked thoughtful. “Everyone knows that you can’t eat a second Devil Fruit, but I’d never actually seen what happens.” She looked down at Vivi with a smirk. “I wonder who first discovered that you can’t have two. I hope there weren’t any children around when they did. They would have undoubtedly been traumatized for life.”

Vivi decided that she was perfectly okay with not seeing the corpse. Wyper stood up, and Vivi took his offered hand to pull herself to her feet. Her head spun, and she reached out an arm to steady herself on Robin until the world stopped spinning. Her head hurt, and when she put her hand on it she felt raised skin on her face. She poked at it for a second before running her fingers along it gently, tracing a pattern. It took a few seconds to realize what it was, and she wished there was a mirror somewhere. She knew what a lightning scar looked like, though Sanji’s had been on his chest and not his face.

Robin looked at her, and Vivi mustered a smile. “At least people are less likely to recognize me now.” Wyper looked confused, and she pushed all thoughts of her younger self away to focus on more immediate concerns. “We should start climbing.”

“Climbing?”

“The bell is at the top of the beanstalk.” Robin looked up. “How long do you think it will take to reach it? We don’t have any supplies, and I don’t want to die of dehydration on the way up.”

Vivi really hoped that was a joke, but she still wasn’t sure how many of Robin’s odd comments were serious. “I don’t think it should take more than an hour or two.” She bit her tongue before she could blurt out how long it took Luffy to climb it, as she wasn’t sure how to explain that to Wyper. She caught a splash of red out of the corner of her eye and very firmly did not turn her head to look at it as she reached down to pick up the light dial. The twisting vines of the beanstalk were wide enough for the three of them to walk abreast, but Robin grabbed Vivi’s arm to pull her back a step.

“You told me that your friend’s powers were important to him.”

Vivi nodded, smiling as she remembered Luffy managing to eat in his sleep after defeating Crocodile. “He had them as long as I knew him, and I can’t imagine him without them.”

“Then why did you give it up?” Vivi stumbled in her surprise, too busy staring at Robin to mind her footing. “You had time to run, and you could have easily found a Shandian warrior with a seastone weapon to take down Eneru.”

Vivi shook her head sharply, wincing at the sting of her cropped hair smacking her in the face. “I couldn’t have lived with myself if I left you behind. Luffy’s powers are important, sure, but you…” She smiled, grabbing Robin’s hand to squeeze it. “You’re more important than anything.”

Robin stared at her for a long second before pulling her into a tight hug. Vivi hugged back, beaming. This might mean that Robin finally trusted her, and if that was true then she had a real shot at convincing her to stick around until they found Luffy again. She still wasn’t sure how she would make him remember everyone, but she was certain she could figure something out. With something positive to focus on, the hike up the beanstalk went quickly, and a few minutes later they pushed through a thick layer of cloud to find a number of small, abandoned houses.

“What is this?”

“This is where God’s soldiers and priests live. They must all still be below us, fighting.”

Vivi chose not to mention that two of the priests were unlikely to ever fight again, and turned away from the abandoned houses to continue climbing. Before they could get more than a foot above the surface of the cloud, a loud noise drew the trio’s attention to a large pink polka dot winged horse soaring up from below. It landed in front of them, blocking their path up the beanstalk, and a tall man with a long beard dismounted.

“What are you doing here, Ganfor?” Wyper sounded annoyed, and Vivi recognized the name as the man who led Skypiea before Eneru’s arrival.

“I was checking to ensure that all of Eneru’s priests were truly defeated and none were waiting in their homes to attack when everyone’s guard is down. What is a Shandian warrior doing so high up the beanstalk with two Blue Sea girls?” From what she’d heard from the others, Ganfor was a good man who only wanted to protect his people and country, so unless they were somehow offending him he was unlikely to stop them. With that in mind, she decided that the best option was to tell the truth and hope he believed her.

Vivi stepped forward, ignoring Robin crossing her arms. “My name is Vivi, and this is my friend Robin. We came here from Jaya following the advice of a man named Montblanc Cricket, searching for the fabled golden city.” She took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders. “Eneru tried to stop us, and I killed him. We only want to reach the top of this beanstalk and ring the golden bell there to let Cricket know that we found the city.”

Ganfor looked confused. “There is no golden bell at the top of this beanstalk.”

Vivi froze, desperately trying to remember exactly what Luffy said about ringing the bell. “But- there must be. This beanstalk went through the center of the city, carrying the bell up with it. There’s nowhere else it could be.” Vivi realized that she had completely forgotten that the city was under a layer of cloud, which was why they hadn’t seen any sign of it on their way to the beanstalk. Fortunately, she remembered now, so once they rang the bell it would be simple enough to go below the cloud at the base of the beanstalk and explore the ruins to look for the Poneglyph.

Ganfor looked up and nodded slowly, stroking his beard. “If that is the case, I believe I know where this bell may be. There is a sizable cloud which remains centered over this beanstalk at all times, and it is possible that something lifted by this beanstalk could have been deposited on it. However, you will be unable to reach it simply by climbing.” Vivi’s heart sank. If they couldn’t ring the bell, they couldn’t end the war between the Shandians and Skypieans, and all of this would have been for nothing.

“Would it be reachable on flying horseback?” Vivi glanced at Robin, then at the spotted horse. It looked like it could carry at least two people at once, which meant it could take all four of them to the bell rather easily if they took turns. She wasn’t sure if Ganfor needed to be there, but it couldn’t hurt to have an influential member of each group there to formally end the hostilities.

Ganfor nodded, still looking up. “It should be, yes.” He looked at Vivi. “Would this bell happen to be the source of the ‘song of the island’ which drew my people to this land so many years ago?”

“I believe it is, yes.”

Ganfor sighed, scratching his flying horse’s nose. “Do you think you can carry them all at once, Pierre?”

The horse made an annoyed noise, and Ganfor turned back to them. “We will have to go in pairs. Who would like to go first?”

Robin tilted her head, and Vivi took it as an invitation to proceed. “I’ll go.”

“And I’ll go with her.” Wyper glared at Ganfor, and Vivi supposed it was for the better that they weren’t left alone together. He mounted the flying horse first, and she swung herself up behind him. The contrast between the horse hair beneath her and the feathers brushing her legs was disconcerting, and distracted her enough that she didn’t have time to brace herself before Pierre took off. She let out a small shriek and clung to Wyper, closing her eyes against the wind rushing past her face. Wyper barely moved, and Vivi wondered where he learned to ride since she hadn’t seen any beasts of burden in the Shandian village.

Pierre landed on the edge of a relatively small bit of island cloud, but neither Vivi nor Wyper got out of the saddle immediately, since both of them were too busy gaping at the golden bell. Vivi shook off the awe first, swinging herself off of Pierre’s back to approach the bell. It was much larger than she’d expected, supported by two massive golden pillars. Vines and moss covered some of it, but the carvings that decorated the bell looked like the ones she’d seen at the sacrificial altar. The carvings on the bell’s base caught her eye, and she could barely believe her luck. Embedded below the bell was the Poneglyph, or at least that’s what she assumed it was given that the symbols looked like the ones she saw below Alubarna.

“I can’t believe it’s been up here all along.”

Vivi startled, as she’d all but forgotten Wyper was there, and turned around in time to see Pierre drop below the edge of the cloud. She supposed he was going to pick up Ganfor and Robin, and beamed at the thought of Robin’s face when she landed and saw the Poneglyph. “Neither can I.”

“How did you know it was here?”

Vivi shook away her daydreams to focus on Wyper, trying to remember what she’d already told the Shandians. “Cricket had Noland’s journal. It had a lot in it about the golden city, and once I saw a map of Skypiea it was pretty easy to figure it out.”

He seemed to accept that, and Vivi took a moment to admire the craftsmanship of the markings on the bell. The sky to the East was starting to get brighter, and with dawn approaching there was enough light to make out more detail. She noticed something out of place near the bottom, and upon closer inspection it was written in the same language as the Poneglyph. That seemed unusual, and she wondered what Robin would make of it. As if summoned by the thought, Robin and Ganfor appeared on Pierre over the edge of the cloud, and Vivi ran up to them, beaming.

“It’s here, Robin! The Poneglyph is in the base of the bell!”

Robin’s surprised face was amusing, but it quickly gave way to a level of wonder and awe that Vivi felt almost awkward witnessing. She walked up to it as if in a trance, and as she started to read Vivi noted with worry that her face fell like it did in Alabasta.

“Is something wrong?”

“Poseidon.” Vivi didn’t need to be a genius to connect the dots and realize that this Poneglyph was about an ancient weapon as well. “It describes the location of the ancient weapon Poseidon.”

“You can read it?” Wyper looked astonished, and Robin nodded. She opened her mouth, then let it slowly close, staring at the bottom corner of the stone.

“I have come here and will lead this passage to the farthest ends of the world.”

“What?”

“Someone wrote that in at the bottom.” She brushed aside a vine to uncover an additional line of text and gasped. “It’s signed Gol D Roger.”

Robin looked as stunned as Vivi felt, but Ganfor looked thoughtful. “That name sounds familiar. A rookie by that name came by here before Eneru took over, but I don’t know how he could have reached this cloud.”

Wyper interrupted Ganfor’s musings, grabbing Robin’s arm and pulling her around to face him. “Who is Gol D Roger? Do you know him?”

Vivi remembered that the Skypieans were mostly cut off from the rest of the world and likely had no idea that the Great Pirate Era was happening, much less who caused it. “He was the King of the Pirates.” She thought for a second, remembering how excited Sanji had been to explain exactly why Robin was so much better than any other archaeologist and why the future Pirate King was lucky to have her on his crew. “I suppose it makes sense he could read Poneglyphs, since he would have needed to decipher all four Road Poneglyphs to reach Raftel.”

Robin looked floored, and Vivi realized that maybe she shouldn’t have said that. The Road Poneglyphs weren’t exactly common knowledge, and she didn’t want Robin to think that she just wanted her for her talents.

“So did he do what he wrote? Did he take the message to the end?” Robin nodded, shooting Vivi a look that managed to convey that they would be discussing this further later. Wyper, to Vivi’s surprise, dropped Robin’s arms and started to tear up. “My people have been defending this message for eight hundred years.”

Robin smiled, patting his arm. “If the King of the Pirates really did leave that message, then I believe he delivered it to its destination.” She looked back at Vivi. “Even if he didn’t, my captain and I are looking for a man named Luffy. He’s going to be the next Pirate King, and when we reach Raftel with him, I’ll make sure the message is delivered safely.”

Wyper sniffled, tears streaming down his face, and everyone quietly ignored it as he composed himself. After a long minute where Vivi could barely think over how happy she was that Robin finally agreed to travel with her, she was brought back to the current moment by Ganfor clearing his throat. “How are we going to ring the bell? It seems to heavy to be moved by a single person.”

Vivi smiled, looking to Robin. “Would you do the honors, Robin?”

“It would be my pleasure, Miss Princess.” Robin crossed her arms and closed her eyes. A few seconds later, her eyes snapped open, and she muttered something Vivi couldn’t quite make out. What seemed like hundreds of arms grew out of the pillars on either side of the bell, reaching out of and grabbing onto each other until there were two enormous ropes of limbs grabbing onto either side of the bell. Both Wyper and Ganfor looked alarmed, and Vivi remembered that Wyper had only seen the smallest demonstration of Robin’s power, and Ganfor hadn’t even been told Robin was more than an ordinary human being.

It took a few seconds for even Robin’s hundreds of limbs to pull the massive instrument, but they all heard the muffled thunk of the clapper hitting the side of the bell. She looked to Vivi, who nodded, and let go just as the sun rose over the horizon of clouds.

Vivi understood why the bell was referred to as the song of the island a soon as the first peal rang out. It was the clearest note she had ever heard, perfectly in tune even after centuries untouched, and she felt physically warmer for having heard it. Given how deafening it was this close, she doubted anyone on the island would be unable to hear it, and hoped with all her heart that the prophecies were more than just words and the beautiful sound would be enough to convince the Skypieans to stop fighting with the Shandians. She hoped Cricket could hear it as well and know that Noland was right after all, for his sake. The ringing finally died down after what felt like minutes but was probably more like a few seconds, though it was a few more seconds after that before the reverberations stopped echoing through Vivi’s bones. Ganfor was on the verge of tears, and it looked like Wyper had never stopped crying.

“Wyper, you said your name was?” He nodded, and Ganfor reached out a hand. “Well, Wyper, I would like to see if I can arrange a meeting with your chief. It is long past time to end the war between our people.”

Wyper stared at his hand for a long time before reaching out and shaking it. His voice was strong and steady, despite the tears still drying on his face. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Ganfor smiled, and Vivi beamed. Wyper turned to them, surreptitiously rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand, which she noticed was streaked with blood. In fact, with the light of day, she could see that he was nearly covered in blood, and felt more than a little queasy. “If there’s anything we can do for you, anything at all, just say the word. We never would have been able to find the bell without your help, and your assistance in defeating Eneru and his priests was invaluable.”

Vivi started to shake her head, but thought better of it. “There are only two things. First, I’d like to ask that you ring the bell as often as possible. I can’t be sure that Noland’s descendant heard it, and there’s no way to check, but Skypiea passes over Jaya often enough that if you keep ringing it, he’s sure to hear it eventually.” She took a deep breath, knowing that the success of the rest of her quest depended on his reaction to the second half of her request. “I also need gold.”

“Gold?” He looked confused, and Vivi wasn’t sure whether or not that was a good sign. “Why would you want gold?”

She could have laughed. Luffy had described in great detail the lengths they went to to sneak away from Skypiea with as much gold treasure as they could carry, and Wyper talked about it as if it was as common as dirt. Ganfor seemed puzzled as well, and Vivi couldn’t hold back a giggle.

“On the Blue Seas, gold is very valuable. Robin mentioned Luffy, our friend who’s going to be the Pirate King. Well, we need gold to afford the ship which will carry him to Raftel.” Vivi thought of the Going Merry, and hoped that in this time, with the Sunny to carry them from the very beginning, the ship they all loved wouldn’t need to break itself apart carrying them across the world.

Ganfor turned to Wyper. “I’ll leave the decision to you. The gold of Skypiea is rightfully the gold of Shandia, after all.”

Wyper was visibly pleased by the admission, but shook his head. “It’s not my decision to make, but I’ll ask the chief.” Vivi nodded. It was as much as she could ask for, and if worst came to worst they could always go Luffy’s route and steal it.

With nothing actually left to do on the bell’s cloud, they rode Pierre back down to the tip of the beanstalk. Vivi glanced down over the edge of his back and saw a large blue circle around the base of the beanstalk which wasn’t there when they started climbing. She smiled, remembering Usopp’s detailed description of a vicious giant snake which turned into a harmless pet the moment it heard the sound of the bell. When Ganfor and Robin landed and they started to climb down, she noticed that the area of cloud around where the beanstalk passed through the layer with the priests’ houses was significantly darker than earlier.

The closer they got, the more defined the dark blob became, especially in the growing daylight, until the mass resolved itself into a crowd of people with dark hair. Wyper was visibly relieved, and a few minutes later Vivi was able to tell that the people crowded around the beanstalk, periodically glancing up at the descending quartet, were the warriors of Shandia. When they were still about twenty yards up, someone yelled up at them, and Vivi was able to place the voice as Laki.

“We’re all here! We all made it!” Wyper’s shoulders fell in what Vivi was able to recognize as relief, and she couldn’t help but grin as Laki shouted up the list of injuries. Many of the Shandian warriors had been hurt during the attack, but it looked like all of them would pull through. When they reached the cloud, the warriors swarmed them, and Vivi could barely breathe for how tightly she was being hugged. She couldn’t help but smile, even if the pressure on her ribs was rather painful, and while the warriors celebrated and Wyper tried not to cry again she met Robin’s eyes and smiled even wider at the look of contentment on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, Vivi and Robin will leave Skypiea and finally get towards actually doing things. Hopefully I'll manage to get it done before May.


	10. Chapter 10

The Shandian warriors either didn’t notice Ganfor or assumed that he must be fine if Wyper was with him, because they completely ignored him. Everyone calmed down a little as Laki started giving Wyper more detail on the various injuries the warriors had received fighting Eneru’s priests, and Kamakiri grabbed Vivi to pull her out of the throng. Robin followed, and as Kamakiri led them to one of the houses Vivi realized that she was exhausted. Now that everyone was safe and she had accomplished her goal, her body seemed to remember that she had been awake for a full twenty four hours, and she wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep.

Kamakiri ushered them inside the house, and Vivi noticed that his arm was in a sling. “Hey, doc!” A woman with short hair looked up from wrapping bandages around a man’s chest, barely glancing at Vivi and Robin before focusing on her work again.

“Are you bleeding?”

Kamakiri looked at Vivi, which she supposed meant that she was the one being questioned instead of him. “No ma’am.”

“Any broken bones?”

Vivi glanced at Robin to confirm before answering that. “No.”

“Alright then. Take a seat over there and I’ll look you over when I’m done with Braham.”

Kamakiri left them there, and Vivi and Robin took a seat on the couch against the wall. It looked like it had been shoved there recently to make space for the doctor to work, and Vivi remembered Chopper and Usopp arguing about the Merry’s capability as a pirate ship given that it didn’t have a proper medical room. She felt a pang of homesickness, and reminded herself that if things went according to plan, she would get Franky to build her the Sunny, and the Going Merry would live a life of peace and quiet in East Blue.

Vivi was half asleep on Robin’s shoulder by the time the doctor finished wrapping up her patient. Robin nudged her awake, and she sat up straight, yawning. The doctor grabbed her chin, turning her face from side to side and grimacing. She gave Robin a cursory glance, taking in the slightly singed shirt, and shook her head. “I see you took on God. How in the world are you still alive?”

She let go of Vivi’s face, and Robin answered for her. “She was close enough to the ground that the electricity was able to flow in a way which didn’t fatally electrocute her. In my case, I suppose I was simply extremely lucky.”

The doctor scoffed and turned around, rummaging through a bag next to the bandaged man. “I can’t see any signs of internal injuries, but that doesn’t mean much. I’d advise taking it easy for at least a month, and if you notice anything strange go see a doctor immediately.”

Vivi nodded obediently, though she knew that she wasn’t going to be able to simply lay back and relax until she assembled the entire crew. She probably wouldn’t even be able to stop training with Robin, since a month without practice would mean even more time wasted afterwards getting her back up to her current level. She doubted it would be much of a problem. After all, Zoro ignored Chopper ordering him to relax all the time, and he was still perfectly fine.

The doctor found what she was looking for and turned around, handing Vivi a small jar. “This salve should lessen the scarring. Once a day, cover the injury in a thin layer of cream, leave it on for ten minutes, and wash it off. Leaving it on too long may cause discoloration of the surrounding skin, and if you take it off too early the scar won’t fade as well. Be careful not to ingest any. Make sure to store it somewhere cool, or it’ll melt.” Vivi nodded, and set the jar in her lap. She knew she wouldn’t be using it, since having a disfiguring scar worked out in her favor in the long run, but Robin would probably want it, and if nothing else she was certain Chopper would love to examine and improve on it.

“Will that be all, miss doctor?”

“Yeah, yeah. Tell Wyper to get his ass in here, I know he’s avoiding me.”

Vivi nodded, and when she stood up her vision blurred for a moment. Robin grabbed her, keeping her upright, and Vivi waved her off, keeping still until her head cleared. “I’m fine. I just need some sleep.” Her stomach growled, and she smiled. “Probably some food too.”

Ganfor was waiting for them outside the doctor’s temporary office, Pierre at his side. “Is everything alright?”

“The doctor said we should be fine as long as we take it easy for a while.” Her stomach rumbled again, and Ganfor laughed.

“I believe someone is whipping up breakfast in the mess hall, if you’d like something to eat.”

“Please.” The mess hall was fairly large, and Vivi had to assume it was meant for the soldiers who lived with their families in town because the house the doctor set up shop in was equipped with a full kitchen. The Shandians were lining up in front of a large cauldron, and Vivi resigned herself to yet another meal of mediocre soup. She missed Sanji.

Nobody seemed to recognize Vivi or Robin, though Ganfor got plenty of odd looks, and Vivi supposed that everyone had been too excited about the bell and Wyper’s safe return to notice them, which was fine by her. They found a spot to sit down, and Robin closed her eyes for a few seconds before smiling and picking up her spoon.

“The Shandians are discussing how to move the bell down to the city below us so it can be rung every day, as it was before Jaya was split”

Vivi grinned, happy that at least half of her request was fulfilled. As if summoned by the thought, the Shandian chief arrived, and Vivi rose to greet him.

“I understand you are to be thanked.”

Vivi blushed, shaking her head. “I didn’t do much, really. Robin did most of the work.”

The chief chuckled. “I meant that you are both to be thanked, but your humility is laudable. If nothing else, you are the only one who can take credit for the defeat of Eneru, and I thank you for that. In addition, you found the bell, and Wyper tells me your friend was able to decipher the meaning of the stone we have protected for so long.” Vivi nodded, and the chief nodded back. “Thank you. We have been waiting for the day our vigilance would no longer be needed.” He paused. “I remember Gol D Roger. He was young, and brash, and proud. If you say that he wrote he would deliver the message we have guarded, then I believe it has been delivered.”

Robin let out a shaky breath, and the chief nodded at her. “Wyper also tells me that you have asked for our gold.”

Vivi nodded. “We don’t need much, just-”

“You can have as much as your ship will carry. The Shandian city of gold was a legend for centuries, lusted after by adventurers and thieves, but we defended it for the sake of the sacred stone, not the metal. We have no need for it, and if you wish to have it, we encourage you.”

Vivi beamed, bowing to the chief. “Thank you so much, sir. I don’t know if I can repay you for this generous gift.”

“Repay me? I thought we were repaying you.”

Robin chuckled, and Vivi straightened up. “All the same, we are eternally grateful.”

The chief nodded, and left to join the dwindling line of people waiting for food. Vivi sat back down and resumed eating, because even if the soup was watery and flavorless she wasn’t going to let any of it go to waste.

“In your future, did you spend a long time unsure when your next meal would be?” Vivi stared at Robin, who took a sip of her own soup before elaborating. “You don’t eat like you’re starving, but the only people I’ve ever seen so determined to eat disgusting food are those who don’t know the next time they’ll have a chance. Did that happen to you?”

Vivi stared at the dregs in her bowl. It took a moment for her to realize what this implied, and she shook her head slowly. “Not me. Sanji taught us to never let food go to waste, and that no matter what the consequences you should never let someone starve. His birth father was an asshole, and he went through some pretty rough times before being adopted by his dad.”

Robin raised an eyebrow, but didn’t press further, to Vivi’s relief. She wasn’t sure she would have managed to avoid telling Robin about the Vinsmokes, and if she had her way Sanji’s asshole ex-family would never be a problem. They both finished up their soup and put their bowls on top of a growing pile at the end of the table. Vivi spotted Wyper at the other end of the room, wrapped in bandages and scowling at the doctor, who seemed to be yelling at him. Vivi snickered, then yawned, and remembered that she was exhausted.

Robin grabbed the nearest warrior and smiled at him, though it looked more like a threat than a friendly gesture. “Excuse me. Where might we find somewhere to rest?”

The warrior looked confused until he looked at Vivi, or more probably the scar on her face. “Oh! Well, ma’am, the houses up here are all deserted, so if you just pick one to lie down in I’m sure nobody would mind.”

“Thank you.” They followed his advice, though really Vivi was too exhausted to do more than follow Robin’s lead, and after a few minutes that felt like very long and blurry seconds Robin was guiding her down onto a nice soft mattress. It felt like lying on a cloud, and a glance down showed that the mattress and pillow were, in fact, clouds. She barely shut her eyes for a second before falling asleep.

When she woke up, she was alone, and it took a minute to force herself up from the soft bed. Her face ached, as did most of the rest of her, but she pushed it aside for the more pressing need of finding a toilet. It took a few minutes to find the bathroom, and she was amused to note that the line of men was more than twice as long as the line of women, for once. Granted, there were many more male warriors than female ones, but it was still funny.

Ten minutes later, with her teeth brushed and face washed, she felt much more human, though she wished she had clean clothes to change into. With her morning ritual taken care of, Vivi started to wonder where Robin went. Before she could start asking, the bell rang again, and she stood there for a few seconds appreciating the sound. She glanced up and saw what looked like a whole flock of giant birds carefully lowering the bell onto the top of the beanstalk, and assumed that the warriors had assembled some kind of pallet to move it down.

“You’re finally up.”

She looked away from the bell to see Robin smiling at her, wearing Shandian clothes and looking more content than she’d seen her since the Reverie. “How long was I asleep?”

“About twelve hours. They’re preparing a feast for dinner right now, though if you ask I’m sure someone could give you something to tide you over until then.”

Vivi thought about it for a second. She was rather hungry, but a feast would mean a lot of food, and she’d rather stay hungry for a while than not be able to finish her food later. “I can wait. What have you been doing?”

“I slept for a few hours, then accompanied the chief and several other Shandians into the ancient city. It is no longer covered in gold, but it’s still beautiful. Sadly, it was looted by the Skypieans, so there isn’t much evidence of their culture left to study. The chief has offered to have his people compile a book of their stories and traditions for me to look over, which is nice. Ganfor flew off before I woke up, but apparently he found hundreds of Skypieans working on building a giant flying machine for Eneru. They’re quite happy to have been freed, and I’m certain they’ll listen to him and convince their families and friends in the city to agree to the new peace.”

Vivi was pleased to hear that everything was turning out okay. The bell ringing again distracted her, and she looked up to see it moving slowly closer. They probably could have transported it in a way that kept it from ringing, but after everything they’d been through the Shandians probably wanted to hear it as much as possible.

“Laki laid out some clothes for you by where we slept. I assume you didn’t see them.”

Vivi hadn’t, and by the time she finished changing people were getting ready for the feast. She and Robin mingled with the crowd for a few minutes, but before the food was served Laki spotted them and pushed through the throng to reach them.

“What are you doing down here? You and Wyper are the guests of honor, come on.” As soon as Laki said it, people started to recognize them, and the crowd parted to let them through to a table set a bit apart from the rest, with seats instead of benches. Vivi guessed that this was where the top priests sat at meals while the foot soldiers all ate together. Laki showed her and Robin to their seats, then vanished back into the crowd. To her mild surprise, Ganfor sat down next to Robin, who immediately stuck up a conversation with him about the traditions and culture of Skypiea.

Vivi looked out over the warriors, most of whom were sitting down and clearing the aisles so the servers could get around with the huge platters of food. She saw many casts over broken bones, almost nobody was without at least some kind of bandage, and a few were even missing limbs, but they all looked happy. She was able to spot a few Skypieans amongst them, and guessed that they were part of the group who were forced to work for Eneru. Everyone seemed to be getting along, and when someone came by with a jug of wine she decided it would be okay if she let loose a bit.

After dinner, she lost count of how many glasses of wine she’d had, but she didn’t really care. Her vision was a little fuzzy, but that didn’t really matter as long as she didn’t try to fight anyone or steer something. Robin kept looking at her disapprovingly, and Vivi had to assume she was jealous even though she said multiple times that she didn’t like alcohol. Vivi spent about half an hour teaching the warriors Binks’ Brew, because it was the only pirate song she knew and she was a pirate now and should be doing pirate things. Unfortunately, all of the warriors were as drunk as she was, so none of them could sing very well. People kept forgetting the words and making up new ones, but it was still fun, and she could swear that even Robin joined in on one of the verses.

Once the song was done, someone started doing toasts. Everyone cheered “To victory!” and took a long drink. Vivi finished a mug of something, she wasn’t sure exactly what, and belched. Kamakiri whistled loudly, and raised his mug to yell “To Vivi!”

She remembered that she didn’t want credit for something that was really Luffy’s doing, which was why she wrote that note back in Alabasta, and waved her arms frantically, sending the last few drops in her mug splattering to the ground. “No, no! Not me, Luffy! To Straw Hat Luffy!”

Apparently they were only half listening to her, because everyone yelled “To Straw Hat Vivi!” and cheered. Vivi stood up to yell at them and tell them how great Luffy was and why they should thank him instead, but once she was on her feet everything blurred and she passed out.

She woke up with a splitting headache, and squinted open her eyes to see Robin smirking at her. She wanted to hate her for it, but Robin had become her best friend in this timeline, so she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Then again, she and Kohza yelled at each other all the time. “Go away.”

“The doctor gave you a thorough examination to make sure you didn’t have a concussion that she didn’t notice earlier. Luckily, it was just too much moonshine, and you’ll be fine in a few hours. I expect your head must hurt quite a lot right now.”

“That’s a bit of an understatement.” She managed to open her eyes wide enough that the entire room was visible. Thankfully, the window was covered, so it wasn’t too bright. They were in the same house she slept in last night, or at least she assumed it was last night. “How long was I asleep this time?”

“Not too long. It’s about ten in the morning now.” Vivi heard the bell ring, and was a little surprised to notice that it was coming from below them. “They managed to get the bell back to where it was four hundred years ago, within the ancient city. They’ve been ringing it once an hour, since you made them promise to ring it until they were certain Cricket heard it.”

“That’s good.” She glanced down at her borrowed clothes, embarrassed to notice multiple stains from spilled drinks. “Is there something I could change into?”

Once her morning routine was done, Vivi felt a little better, though her head was still killing her. With a reassurance from Robin that she’d come get her if needed, she went back to the house they were staying in. As she suspected, the bag she took from the priest at the altar was there, and she started pulling things out of it. It took a while to clean the bits of the Gum Gum fruit out of everything, and thankfully the only page stained with fruit juice was the one with everything she remembered about Skypiea, which was now irrelevant.

She spent the next two hours going through her notes on Luffy’s adventures and filling in as many blanks as she could remember. She managed to get down that Franky didn’t want to part ways with his gang at first, and that the zombie which had Brook’s shadow was also a swordsman. She suspected that he was the one Zoro got his pink sword from, though he had been surprisingly tight-lipped on the subject.

Shortly after noon, Robin brought her a large sandwich for lunch. She practically inhaled it, then sat back to breathe. “What have you been up to?”

“Supervising the Shandians taking gold to our ship. I assume we’re going to be selling all of it for Beris, so I don’t want them to give us anything irreplaceable.” Vivi smiled, glad she’d given Robin a chance. She was really a lot nicer than Vivi had originally thought. “When will we be leaving?”

Vivi considered their options. She didn’t want to stay too long, since she wanted to make sure they had time to gather everyone before meeting Luffy in East Blue, but she also wanted to make sure Robin learned everything she could, because it was unlikely they’d be coming back any time soon. “Whenever you feel like you’ve gotten everything you want from here. You haven’t been able to spend a lot of time in the ancient city, and I can’t imagine you’ve learned everything you could from it.”

Robin looked surprised, but shook it off quickly. “I’m not concerned about preserving and recording the civilization of the ancient Shandians. Oral traditions in the current tribe have kept the culture alive, and my focus is more on cultures which would die out without intervention. I am an archaeologist, not an anthropologist.”

Vivi didn’t really know the definition of either of those words, but she took Robin’s word for it. “In that case, we can leave whenever they’re done loading the gold onto the ship. I’d like to ask if they can give us some food and water as well, since I’m not sure whether or not we’ll land close to an island when we go back to the ocean.”

Robin gave her a funny look. “Land?”

“Yeah. The only way to get back to the ocean from here is to sail the ship off the edge of the cloud and fall down. Luffy was very excited about the inflatable octopus.”

Robin still looked as if she thought Vivi was insane, but she knew that without Luffy around to make everything and everyone else look normal, most of his adventures sounded like the kind of thing Usopp would make up.

The warriors were all sad to hear that Vivi and Robin were leaving, but understood. They agreed to give them as much food and water as they needed, and Vivi packed everything up to prepare to set off. Taking inventory and finding places to wedge essential supplies between towering stacks of gold took the better part of the afternoon, and by the time everything was ready it was dinner time.

The second feast was more of a goodbye party, since Vivi wanted to leave as early in the morning as possible to give them time to get their bearings on the open ocean. Water 7 was a fairly well known island, so she was pretty sure that they’d be able to get directions pretty easily once they found someone to ask. Vivi didn’t drink anything alcoholic at all this time, since a hangover while trying to steer a ship would be disastrous, but the party was still a lot of fun. She managed to get more people singing Binks’ Brew this time, and as it was earlier in the night they were less drunk and sounded much better. When she and Robin got up to go sleep, they toasted her again, much to her chagrin and Robin’s amusement.

“To Straw Hat Vivi, the savior of Skypiea!”

It took Vivi a while to fall asleep, and when she woke up, she was more tired than she’d been in a long while. The ship was fully stocked, and she double checked their inventory as Robin steered them towards the edge of the cloud. Ganfor had dropped off the inflatable octopus the night before, and as far as she knew there wasn’t anything she and Robin needed to do to make it work. The bell rang as they approached the exit, and Vivi let the sound sink in. She would be sure to find a way back to Skypiea some day, if only to hear that bell again.

The path off the edge of the cloud was misleading. At the start, it looked completely normal, but if you looked far enough ahead it simply stopped. Some cloud was trickling down off the edge, and Vivi steeled herself for the fall. She clung to the railing and took a deep breath, and then the deck dropped out from beneath her. As it turned out, knowing that it was coming didn’t make a ten thousand foot fall any less terrifying. They were in freefall for several long, horrifying seconds before the octopus inflated, which reduced their speed enough that they could truly appreciate the surroundings. They were caught by a gust of wind, then another, and by the time they were low enough that the breezes were too light to move them Vivi could barely see Skypiea behind them.

They were still drifting slowly sideways, but the air was still, and Vivi looked down at the ocean below them. Robin joined her at the railing, peering over the edge to the slowly approaching water. “It’s so clear, it’s almost as if there’s a mirror below us.”

“There’s no wind right now to make waves, so-” Her heart caught in her throat, and a glance at Robin showed the same dawning horror. There was only one place in the Grand Line where there wasn’t any wind, even hundreds of feet above the water. They were going to land in the Calm Belt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s Vivi’s birthday today, so I polished up the end of this chapter so I can update. I know this chapter is a little slow, but things should pick up soon, now that they’re out of Skypiea and back on the ocean.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, and I'm sorry. I have a lot of this story outlined, but not a lot written, and life hasn't been fun lately. With any luck, the next chapter should be easier to write.

As the water grew slowly closer, Vivi struggled to think of a way out of this. She managed to prick the octopus hard enough that it let out a burst of air, but all that did was spin the ship, and forcing it to let out enough to propel them out of the Calm Belt might make it impossible to land slow enough to prevent capsizing. Vivi looked up at the sky, trying to judge how far away the clouds in the distance were, and turned to Robin. “I’m going to try to make it turn us to face back towards the Grand Line. Get arms on as many oars as possible. We’re going to want to start rowing as soon as we hit the water.”

In lieu of a response, Robin closed her eyes and crossed her arms, breathing deeply. It took a few tries to get the octopus to release the correct amount of air, but by the time they were falling fast enough for Vivi to feel it in her ears they were pointing the right way. With a glance at Robin, who was still breathing deeply, she started climbing up to the crow’s nest for a better vantage point. She and Robin might be able to take out a small Sea King if they pushed themselves, but the Calm Belt was home to much bigger ones than those that roamed the rest of the Grand Line, and any warning would be better than none.

She managed to get to the crow’s nest when they were still a few hundred feet from the water, and looked around. The water was still perfectly flat, not showing any signs of motion underneath, and she braced herself for impact. It was less jarring than the landing at the top of the knock-up stream, but not by much, and the deflated octopus fell to the deck with a soft splat. She looked down to the edge of the ship to see the oars pushing through the water, and felt the ship lurch beneath her. She barely breathed during the minute or two it took for them to really start moving, but no matter how many times she turned to scan the horizon she saw no signs of approaching Sea Kings.

“Are you certain we’re going the right way, Miss Princess?”

“The Log Pose is pointing straight ahead. We might not be on the straightest path out, but I don’t think we can alter our course without risking getting lost.”

Robin didn’t respond, but Vivi suspected that most of her energy was going to keeping the oars moving. She started pacing the crow’s nest, scanning the horizon until her eyes felt like they were going to fall out from the glare of the sun off the water. She blinked until she felt tears, rubbed them away, and kept looking. There were only two ways this leg of their journey could end. Either they would be eaten by Sea Kings, or they’d make it back into the Grand Line and keep going.

The sun was getting close to its zenith and there still wasn’t a single cloud in the sky when Vivi saw a shadow moving across the water. “Robin, off the port bow. I think I see something.”

“Should I keep rowing, or prepare for battle?” She sounded tired, and Vivi confirmed that the shadow was moving closer before heading down the ladder.

“Keep us moving forward. If you get too tired from fighting to row, we’ll be sitting ducks. I’ll take care of it.” She dropped the last ten feet, letting the deck sway beneath her as she took out her slashers and approached the railing. The shadow was slow, or at least wasn’t moving much faster than they were, and the more Vivi watched it the less certain she was that she wasn’t just seeing things. Every few minutes, it would move suddenly closer, and she felt obliged to keep watching it just in case.

When she had almost convinced herself she was imagining it, the shadow grew briefly bigger, and Vivi’s heart lurched as a long spine briefly showed above the surface. The Sea King was at least ten times bigger than their ship, probably more. She didn’t know if she could defeat something that big. She glanced at Robin, saw that her eyes were still closed, and took a deep breath. She didn’t know if she could do it, but she had to, so she would.

The Sea King was still moving slowly towards them, and Vivi continued to watch it until the sun was nearly directly overhead. By then, the monster was close enough that she could make out more than just a vague idea of how big it was, and could tell that it was probably closer to twenty times the size of the ship. Not the biggest Sea King she’d ever seen, but more than big enough to destroy them in a single bite. She’d have to act fast to fend it off. It started to move closer again, and Vivi started spinning her slashers. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Robin’s head tilt in confusion, and she glanced over to see Robin open her eyes. A second later, those eyes went wide in surprise, and Robin dropped her arms to turn and stare. Unable to help herself, Vivi looked away from the approaching Sea King to see what Robin was looking at, and suspected that she made roughly the same expression when she saw the ship that was nearly on top of them.

With Vivi focusing all her attention on the Sea King off the port bow, she hadn’t even thought to check off starboard, and somehow they’d managed to run into another ship. It was one of the biggest she’d ever seen, huge and black with red accents and sails. With a lurch, she noticed that it was flying a pirate flag, though she couldn’t quite make out the symbol. She supposed the swirls around the skull were in reference to the giant snakes which seemed to be pulling the ship, and despaired that even if the pirates spared their lives, there was no way they’d be getting out of this with enough gold to commission the Sunny.

The Sea King chose that moment to attack, and Vivi didn’t even have time to try to defend herself before someone shouted from the deck of the other ship.

“Love Love Mellow!”

The Sea King froze, turned to stone, and sank beneath the water’s surface with a splash. Vivi looked up at the ship and, with a closer look at the flag, realized that it was one she recognized.

“Pirate Empress Hancock.” Robin sounded awed, and Vivi swallowed. Hancock was infamous for more than just her beauty; in Baroque Works Vivi had heard countless stories of how merciless the Empress was, leaving no survivors from plundered crews.

“Who are you, and what are you doing rowing an unmarked and undefended ship through the Calm Belt?” Vivi snapped out of her terror and looked up at the women on the deck of Hancock’s ship. Hancock herself wasn’t even looking at them, and Vivi guessed the person who shouted down was the green haired woman next to her.

“We’re explorers. We landed in the Calm Belt on our descent from the sky island Skypiea, and are just trying to get back to the Grand Line.” Robin sounded much calmer than Vivi was, which was good. Now that she’d gotten a good look at Hancock, she understood why she was called the most beautiful woman in the world, and she didn’t want to sound like an idiot in front of her.

“What were you doing in the sky?”

“We were looking for a Poneglyph, because it’s Robin’s dream to read all of them and discover the true history of the Void Century.”

The next second was dead silent. Vivi looked at Robin, who was staring at her as if trying to decide whether or not this was an intentional betrayal. It took another second after that for Vivi to realize that she really shouldn’t have said that. Both Vivi and Robin looked up at the Kuja pirates, and Vivi’s heart and stomach both did backflips when she saw that Boa Hancock was in fact looking at them now.

“You’re Nico Robin, Demon Child of Ohara. Last I heard you were working for Crocodile.” Vivi swallowed, furious at the part of herself which was more focused on trying to memorize Hancock’s beautiful voice than figuring a way out of this with their lives and treasure intact. Robin nodded slowly, and Hancock laughed. Vivi thought it was the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard. “Marigold, throw them a rope.”

Vivi’s mouth fell open. So did many of the Kuja’s, and an orange haired woman she assumed was Marigold turned to Hancock. “Sis, are you sure?”

Hancock sighed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Vivi’s heart fluttered at the sight. “Of course I am certain, sister. Do as your captain commands.”

Marigold nodded and hurried to obey, hefting a length of rope which probably weighed more than Vivi with one hand and tossing one end of it down onto the deck of their ship.

“Tie that onto something sturdy, and we shall tow you back to Amazon Lily. Sandersonia, get us moving again as soon as they’re ready.” With that, she turned and walked away, sadly disappearing from Vivi’s field of vision. After a moment, she snapped out of her daze and went to help Robin tie the rope to the prow. It took a few minutes to ensure it was secure, and when they waved up to Sandersonia the giant snakes started moving, and they were off.

Travel by snake-pulled ship was much faster than rowing, and at the speed they were moving she could feel a hint of a breeze on her face. After a few minutes, a few of the Kuja pirates jumped down onto their ship, and Vivi had to remind herself to be cautious. Even if Hancock had deigned to help them, she didn’t know how far that help extended, and she didn’t want to let on they had a treasure hoard worthy of a dragon if there was a chance it would be taken from them.

Vivi noticed one of the Kuja staring at her, and she blushed at being caught before walking closer. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but… is your hair like that on purpose?”

Vivi immediately ran a hand through her hair, and realized that she hadn’t actually properly looked at it since cutting it. It probably looked terrible. Oh god, she’d probably looked like an idiot in Skypiea and everyone was just too polite to mention it. “No, it’s not. I haven’t exactly had time to visit a hairdresser, though, and it’s not really a priority.”

“Well, it’s probably going to be an hour before we get to Amazon Lily. I could trim it for you, if you’d like.”

Vivi smiled. “That would be wonderful, thank you.”

“Wait right there, I’ll go get some scissors.” Vivi leaned against the mast and enjoyed the unbroken horizon around her until the friendly Kuja returned with scissors and a chair. “I figured you’d want to sit, since it’ll probably take a while. How much do you want me to trim it by?”

Vivi ran a hand through her hair again before sitting down. “I don’t really care. Whatever you think looks good, I guess.” The Kuja nodded, and started to snip. Little clumps and strands of hair started to dust her neck, and she repressed the urge to scratch or brush them away.

“I just realized, I never introduced myself earlier. My name’s Lily. What’s your name?”

“Vivi.” It felt a little odd to introduce herself without her full formal title, but not as odd as it had before, and she wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that. Lily patted the top of her head, and Vivi let herself relax to the tune of regular scissor snips.

“That’s a nice name. If you don’t mind my asking, what happened to your face? It looks recent.”

Vivi brushed her fingers over her cheek, feeling the raised lines there. “I was struck by lightning.”

“In the face? How are you still alive?”

Vivi didn’t really know how she’d survived, but if Luffy had taught her anything it was that determination was enough to overcome anything. “I can’t die yet. There’s someone I need to meet.”

Lily whistled. “Must be a pretty special someone. What’s her name?”

It took Vivi a second to realize what Lily was implying. “Oh no, not like that! His name is Luffy, he’s my best friend. I owe him everything, and I need to find him again so I can repay him.”

Lily scoffed. “Your best friend is a man? Come on, that can’t be right. Men are useless.” Vivi didn’t want to be rude, so she bit her lip and didn’t say anything. Lily huffed, and snipped a lock next to Vivi’s ear. “Your friend over there is glaring at us, you know.”

Vivi looked to Robin, who was in fact looking directly at her. For a moment, Vivi wondered what she had done to deserve being glared at, and then remembered that she had blurted out Robin’s incredibly illegal hobby in front of strangers. It had all turned out okay, because apparently Boa Hancock had heard of Robin and approved, but with Robin’s history it must have been terrifying. She would have to be sure to talk to her about it later and possibly ask for help training herself not to be so open when asked direct questions.

“Well, I think that’s all I can do for your hair. I can grab a mirror for you, if you’d like.”

“That would be wonderful, thank you.” Lily tapped the scissors on the top of Vivi’s head before literally jumping back onto the deck of the Kuja ship, and Vivi wondered if Amazons were better at jumping than normal people or if they just trained harder. One of the Amazons behind her cleared her throat, and Vivi turned around.

“How did you get to a sky island with just two people? Or were there more of you before?”

“No, it’s just us. We rode a pillar of water up from the surface.” Vivi remembered how much Nami complained, and froze. “Oh my god, there were other ways up.” Of course, no other way would have allowed her to talk to Cricket and assure him he didn’t need to make himself sick diving too deep, and she didn’t know how to find any other path. Really, the knock-up stream was the best option after all, and she wasn’t just telling herself that to avoid being mad at herself for choosing such a ridiculously dangerous method.

“Well, of course there are other ways, but the knock-up stream has to be the most interesting one. I’ve never heard of anyone riding it up and actually surviving! Is that why your ship has those broken wings on the sides?” Vivi glanced over and realized that yes, the snapped wings were in fact still bolted onto the side of the ship.

“Yes, it is.”

“You might want to remove those soon, or you’ll attract a lot of attention.”

“Thank you for your concern, but we’re actually on our way to Water 7 to get a new ship.”

“We are?” Vivi hadn’t noticed Robin’s approach, and turned to smile at her.

“Yes. Remember the Franky I mentioned? He lives there, and I’m going to ask him to build a ship for us.” That reminded her that she had to sit down and make a list of all the amenities the Sunny had, to ensure Franky included all of them. She couldn’t guarantee that he’d make the exact same ship, and in fact there was no way he could, but she could at least make sure the important bits all made it in.

“I see.” Robin gave her a warning glare, and Vivi realized that she almost let it slip that they had a few hundred million Beris worth of gold in the hold.

“Hey, Vivi!” She turned to see Lily jump down, mirror in hand. “Take a look.”

Her attention was first drawn to the scar covering the right side of her face. After a second, she remembered that this was a mirror, so it was actually on her left. It looked like someone had broken a doll and filled the cracks in with too much glue, making the imperfection more obvious than before. She was so focused on it she almost forgot to look at her hair, and was mildly pleased that even she was distracted by it enough not to look closer. She looked so different than she had just a month ago that it was unlikely anyone would connect her to the princess who was hopefully living happily and peacefully back in Alabasta.

Vivi couldn’t see the back of her head without more mirrors, but her hair looked much nicer than it had in the shop window where she cut it. It was even shorter than Nami’s had been when they met, and after a moment she realized it reminded her of Miss Valentine's’ hair without the long bits in front. “Thank you. It looks wonderful. I wish I could repay you, but we traded all of our Beris for Extols, so all we have is gold.”

The entire ship fell silent, and everyone focused on Vivi. The water lapping against the side of the ship seemed deafening suddenly, and Vivi remembered she wasn’t supposed to mention that. Robin looked vaguely mutinous, and someone spoke up from the Kuja ship. “Gold?”

Vivi looked up to see Boa Hancock in all her glory. She was actually looking back at her, and Vivi felt her heartbeat speed up for reasons entirely unrelated to the stress of possibly losing the money she needed to reunite with Luffy. “Y- yes, Miss- uh, I mean, Madam- no, uh, Empress.”

“Sandersonia, see how much they have.” Vivi’s brain seemed to restart, and she gasped.

“No, please! I need that money to build a ship, and to save my friend!” She remembered Lily’s scorn about Luffy, and tried a different approach. “My friend Nami, her village was taken over by pirates, and they’re forcing her to work for them until she can buy it back. I need the money to build a ship to get me to her so I can pay the pirates off and save her.”

Hancock stared directly at her again, and Vivi felt faint. “Interesting, but irrelevant.”

Robin stepped forward, whether to protest further or to attack Vivi wasn’t sure, but she had a dozen bows pointed at her before her foot hit the deck. She slowly raised her hands in surrender, and Vivi hoped that she didn’t try anything brave or stupid.

"The hold is almost overflowing with gold. Carvings, jewelry, you name it. It’s like they raided El Dorado.” Sandersonia sounded impressed, and Vivi scowled.

“We didn’t raid it, they gave it to us willingly!” Everyone turned back to Vivi, incredulous, and she pursed her lips.

“As a rough estimate, how much do you think it’s worth?”

“Easily 500 million.” Vivi’s pursed lips fell open in surprise. Nami had only gotten 300 million from Skypiea, but she supposed it made sense she got more when the Skypieans were actively helping her collect gold instead of having to steal it in the dead of night.

“Leave it on their ship, we will collect it when we arrive on Amazon Lily.”

“Empress Hancock, please. We need that money.” Vivi had never heard Robin plead before, and the tone of voice felt wrong on her. Hancock stared her down, and Robin met her gaze, defiant even with her arms still raised in surrender.

“Did I ever say I was going to rob you? We may be pirates, but we have pride. I would never take from defenceless women, especially when they defy the World Government. How much do you need to make your purchases?”

"Three hundred million Beris, Empress."

"Sandersonia, give them four hundred. A twenty percent exchange fee is more than reasonable, considering I also deigned to save your sad little ship from a Sea King."

Sandersonia nodded and jumped back up onto the Kuja ship, and Vivi’s brain took a moment to catch up to what just happened. Robin appeared to adjust faster, and lowered her arms. “You’re just going to give it to us?”

“Do you wish to remain at this girl’s side, Nico Robin?” Robin nodded shakily, and Vivi’s joy at the confirmation was overrun when Hancock smiled. It was the most beautiful thing Vivi had ever seen, even if it was distinctly cruel. “Your existence is a thorn in the World Government’s side. Every day you evade capture is a day that they are reminded they could not apprehend even an eight year old girl, and the knowledge you possess terrifies them. If you choose to follow this girl, a mere pittance of Beris is nothing to me against the satisfaction of seeing those conceited old men squirm.”

Robin was too stunned to speak, or at least Vivi assumed that was the case because she was too. She had no idea why Hancock hated the government so much she was willing to give up a fortune to spite them, but she wasn’t complaining. Four hundred million would be more than enough to accomplish her goals, as well as keep them off the government's radar until she could find Luffy and become a proper pirate.

"I don't know how we can ever repay you."

"You never will. You are forever in my debt, and nothing can ever measure up to the kindness I am showing you. However, as long as Nico Robin lives, I will not demand your eternal servitude and devotion as payment." Hancock tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked away, and Vivi had to agree with the squealing pirates: Hancock was truly the most kind, gracious, generous, and beautiful pirate to ever sail the seas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've thought for a while that Hancock would like Robin, if they ever properly met, and that the Kuja aren't anywhere as ruthless as people make them out to be, given how nice they are to Luffy until Nyon points out he's not a girl. I wasn't originally going to include Hancock in the story, but I love her, and she opens the door to some wonderful plot points later on.


	12. Chapter 12

The Kuja were snapped out of the excited babble about their wonderful princess by the appearance of Amazon Lily on the horizon, and the ship dissolved into a flurry of activity. Vivi and Robin, for their part, stood back and let the Kuja do their thing, which left the pair standing next to each other with nobody paying attention to them.

“Miss Princess, what on earth possessed you to tell the Pirate Empress the truth, of all things?”

Vivi looked down. “I’m sorry. It’s a bad habit of mine, I tend to run my mouth when presented with direct questions I’m not prepared for. I’ll try to remember not to tell anyone about your dream in the future.” She thought for a moment, then corrected herself. “I won’t tell anyone outside the crew, at least.”

Robin shook her head, but it seemed more of a gesture of defeat than anger, so Vivi counted it as a win. “Do you know why the Empress is a Warlord? I must admit to being suspicious after how vehemently she stated her hatred for the World Government.”

Vivi thought hard, and remembered the gossip at the Reverie. “For her people. As long as she remains a Warlord, Amazon Lily is protected by the World Government, and they help enforce the laws banning men from entering the country. It’s unusual for the Marines to agree to such a resource-intensive condition for a Warlord, but having the most beautiful woman in the world on their side is enough of a morale booster that they do what they can to keep her happy.”

Robin nodded, glancing up at the deck of the Kuja ship. Hancock was still out of her room, her crew blushing and occasionally even swooning whenever she gave instructions, and Vivi found her own face heating up too the more she looked at her. She tore her gaze way, and retreated to her room to grab her notes on future events. She didn’t actually know anything about Water 7 or Enies Lobby beyond what made it into the papers, because all Franky talked about when he described joining was how Luffy stole his underwear and Robin grabbed him by the balls. Luffy had a talent for attracting odd people. Still, she remembered most of what made it into the papers, if only because she made it her business to know everything available about her friends’ various misdemeanors. From that, she had managed to piece together a vague outline, which would have to be enough.

If Robin was taken by CP9, Vivi would do everything in her power to save her, but she knew that she alone wouldn’t be capable of taking down Enies Lobby. She probably couldn’t even take down a single member of CP9 in a fair fight, let alone all four of them on Water 7, so Luffy’s approach was out of the question. She had to make sure Robin never boarded the Sea Train, which meant taking out CP9 before they knew she was there, possibly avoiding them entirely. On the other hand, Robin was much stronger than her, and as long as she had the element of surprise and a clear line of sight she was unstoppable.

“Miss Princess, we’re almost at the island.” Robin’s voice snapped her out of her musings, and Vivi gathered up her notes before joining her on deck. The island of Amazon Lily towered above them, jungle surrounding a mountain topped with enormous stone snakes. She could make out something carved into the side of the mountain, but before she could try to read it her attention was caught by a shout ahead.

“The Snake Princess has returned! Open the gates!”

She looked to the island to see a pair of buildings flanking a large metal circle with the Kuja Pirates symbol on it, but almost as soon as she noticed it it split in half and started to open. Vivi watched in amazement as it opened to reveal a passage through the mountain, with a second gate opening on the other side. She could make out a city on the other side, and took a moment to regret that it was unlikely Franky would ever be allowed close enough to examine this architectural marvel. As they got closer, she heard the distinctive sound of a large crowd celebrating, but they turned to head straight through the gate, and the Kuja ship in front of them made it impossible for her to see anything. When they passed between the buildings flanking the gate, she looked up to see the balconies full of archers, all of whom seemed to be aiming at her and Robin.

“Princess, who are these strangers? Should we eliminate them?”

“They are my guests. Take the gold from their ship and add it to my collection.”

“As you command, Princess.” The archers lowered their bows, and Vivi could swear some of them looked jealous. The predominant emotion was curiosity, though, and she had to wonder just how rare visitors were. As there was a gate that needed to be opened to get in, and the island was in the middle of the Calm Belt, she had to guess they were fairly uncommon. They entered the short tunnel, and the noise of the crowd reverberated off the walls until it was almost deafening. It only took a few seconds to pass through, and when they emerged into the sunshine Vivi was stunned silent.

The city was beautiful, from what little she knew of architectural aesthetic, but what really caught her attention was the people. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of women lined the bay, and all of them were cheering wildly at the return of their leader. She could tell how much all of them respected Hancock, and her own respect for the Empress increased in kind. They docked quickly, the cheers of the crowd fading slightly as the giant snakes were unhitched and the ship secured. Robin dropped their anchor as well, and they watched in awe as Hancock descended the gangplank. She said a few words to one of the women waiting for her, inaudible over the din of the crowd, and stepped into a carriage. Her sisters followed her, and the carriage sped off.

“Excuse me, which one of you is Nico Robin?”

Vivi and Robin both turned to the young woman standing at the shore below them. She looked a little nervous, and was carrying two briefcases over each shoulder. “This is Robin. My name is Vivi.”

“Okay then. The Princess told us to add your ship’s cargo to her hoard, and Lady Sandersonia asked me to give you these.” She tossed the briefcases up, and Robin grew a few extra hands to catch them. With a glance at Vivi, she set them down and unlocked one. There were more ten thousand Beri notes than Vivi had ever seen in her life, and she was the princess of a rather prosperous country. Robin clicked it shut, and Vivi tore her gaze away from the fortune they were just handed to smile at the girl below.

“Thank you very much. We’ll have the gangplank down in just a second.” Robin started to lower it before she even finished the sentence, and they directed a small army of amazons to the cargo hold. They watched the warriors cart huge sacks of gold off the ship as if they were pillows, and the girl who brought the money stepped up to them.

“My name is Marguerite. Lady Marigold asked me to show you around the city, since you’ll be staying here until the pirates set out again.” Vivi nodded, and followed her off the ship. Her notes were in her pocket, her slashers were tucked up her sleeves, and Robin was at her side. She doubted the amazons would touch the money Hancock gave them, given how much they respected their leader, so that left nothing aboard the ship she needed to worry about. Marguerite led them through the streets, pointing out the various vendors and important buildings, until a loud bell drew their attention.

“What was that?”

“Oh, it’s time for the Princess’s bath. Nobody is allowed in the castle while she and her sisters bathe, for our protection.” Robin raised an eyebrow, and Marguerite stopped to explain. “Years ago, the Princess and her sisters fought a gorgon. They defeated it, gaining their powers, but in its last moments it cursed them. If anyone was to see the gorgon’s eyes on their back, they would be turned to stone. It’s why they keep their hair loose, wear clothes that restrict their range of motion, and never let anyone in the castle while they bathe. They don’t want to risk any of us being cursed.”

Vivi nodded in approval of Hancock’s selflessness. She’d never heard of a Devil Fruit whose effects continued after death, but that didn’t mean much. She’d never heard of a talking reindeer or a living skeleton either, and with any luck both Chopper and Brook would be travelling with her before the end of the year.

“Anyways, the house you’ll be staying in is just over here. Ginger moved in with her girlfriend just last month, so it’s still empty. I asked Sweet Pea and Aphelandra to bring over your things from your ship, so they should be inside. You should probably wait to buy supplies for dinner until after the bath is over, because the markets are going to be crowded right now.”

“Thank you so much, really. You’ve been a great help. I have a request, though.”

“What?”

Vivi took a deep breath and looked at Robin. “Please, could you train me? I need to be stronger to help my friends, and I can’t manage it on my own.”

Marguerite stared at her for a few seconds, then rested her chin in her hand. “What’s your weapon?” Vivi pulled out her slashers, giving them a quick spin to show what they were capable of. “Well, I’m afraid we’ll be no help there. Nobody here has anything like that, so unless you’re willing to diversify your arsenal you’re on your own there. Then again… What do you know of haki?”

“There are three types, called colors. Observation lets you sense the location of other living creatures, as well as predict their movements. Armament hardens your body to allow it to defend and attack more effectively. Conqueror's is the rarest, and I don’t know a lot about it.”

Marguerite nodded. “You have the basics, then. How well can you use it?”

“I can’t, actually. It was explained to me recently by a friend, and I don’t know where to start.”

Marguerite smiled. “We’ll start there, then. The Princess usually stays for a month or so before setting out again, so you have that long to figure it out. The training classes are always full when she’s here, but my friends and I can try to teach you what we know.”

Part of Vivi wanted to insist that Marguerite didn’t need to give up her free time, or that of her friends to teach her, but Robin put a hand on her arm before she could protest. “That sounds wonderful, thank you. When can we start?”

Marguerite gave them directions to a clearing in the jungle just outside the walls, with instructions to meet her there when the sun dipped below the rim of the crater, and as soon as she left Robin collapsed into a chair. Vivi was at her side in an instant, unsure what to do. “I’m fine, Miss Princess. Just tired. I’ve never kept up so many arms for so long.” Vivi winced, and Robin waved a tired arm in her face. “It’s not your fault. If I hadn’t, we’d both be dead. Maybe while we learn haki, I can work on my stamina.”

Vivi remembered what Robin said right before Hancock ordered Sandersonia to pay them, and took a step back to make sure she wasn’t intruding on Robin’s personal space. “Did you mean what you said earlier? About wanting to stay with me?”

Robin stared at her, then closed her eyes. “You’ve kept your promises so far, Miss Princess.” She didn’t offer anything else, and Vivi decided to count the bills in the briefcases, just to check.

She felt a little bad for doubting Hancock, because she was obviously so trustworthy and could never do anything as cruel as lie to someone about how much money they were owed, but there wasn’t anything else for her to do until they went to meet Marguerite. She didn’t quite have the patience to check each individual ten thousand Beri bill, which she was sure Nami would berate her for if she knew, so she counted stacks. The first briefcase had a hundred stacks of a hundred bills each, and as she was packing them back in the bell rang again.

“That probably means the bath is over and the market will be empty again.” She turned to Robin, only to see that her friend had fallen asleep in the chair. She smiled, grabbed a bill off the top of one of the stacks, and went to buy groceries.

After the disaster that was haggling for Nami’s waver, Vivi decided to simply buy everything for the listed prices. She realized with a jolt that she’d left the waver on the ship, and changed course to go double check it was still there. Luckily, the two ships were still being unloaded, and she couldn’t see the waver amongst the treasure being organized. She slipped past the women with clipboards and onto her ship, and was relieved to see the waver sitting exactly where she left it. The bag of dials was sitting next to it, and she double checked that they were all still intact and present.

The bag of dials fit neatly where a rider would normally stand, and Vivi walked the waver off the ship and down the gangplank. “Excuse me, where are you going?”

Vivi turned to see Lily, and smiled. “I’m going to buy some groceries for myself and Robin. Marguerite showed us the market, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you have available.” Her heart went out to Sanji, who would most likely never be able to taste the local cuisine and produce of Amazon Lily, but there wasn’t much she could do about that.

“That’s what I thought. We don’t use Beri here, so you’ll need to find and talk to Hyacinth before you shop.” Vivi accepted directions and set out, grateful that the burnished hull of the waver didn’t drag on the street. Once her Beris were exchanged for Gor, she made her way to the market. Most of the stalls sold fruits and vegetables, though one or two offered fresh Sea King meat, and Vivi bought what little she knew she could cook. She could always come back to buy more later, and Sanji would be disappointed if she wasted food by letting it rot before she cooked it. All in all, her trip took a little over an hour, and by the time she got back to the small house she was sharing with Robin for the immediate future her stomach was growling. They hadn’t exactly had lunch, with all the chaos of landing in the Calm Belt, and a glance at the sun suggested that it was a bit past tea time. She could wait until it was closer to dinner.

“I see you went shopping.” Robin was awake, apparently engrossed in a book on local history. She glanced up at Vivi before returning to her book, and Vivi started unloading the food.

“I didn’t want to wake you. You said you were tired.”

Robin hummed, and Vivi returned to counting their money. By the time she put the final stack back in its briefcase, the sun was low enough in the sky for Vivi to feel comfortable making dinner. When she stood up, Robin handed her a plate, and she looked down to see a salad of fruits and greens.

“I’ve tasted your cooking, Miss Princess. I think it would be best if, until we find your chef, I prepare the food.” Vivi remembered the look on Terracotta’s face when she made pancakes, and nodded.

“That’s probably for the best, yes.”

By the time the dishes were washed and put away, the sun was hovering over the lip of the crater, and Vivi and Robin set out for the clearing Marguerite told them about. The streets were mostly empty, and the faint noise of the jungle beyond reminded Vivi of Skypiea and Little Garden. When they left the city walls, Marguerite was waiting for them, along with two larger girls, in varying definitions of the term.

“My name is Aphelandra. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Chapter: training the foreign girls! My name is Sweet Pea.”

“It’s nice to meet you both. My name is Vivi, and this is my friend Robin. Thank you so much for helping us with this.”

“It’s no problem, really. In exchange for the help, would you mind telling us about the rest of the world? Only the pirates ever get to leave, and none of us are strong enough to join them yet.” Aphelandra and Sweet Pea nodded, and Vivi smiled.

“It would be my pleasure.”

Marguerite smiled back, then stood up straight. “Haki is a powerful force, based on your willpower. The stronger your will, the more you can exert it over your surroundings, and the stronger your haki can become. The strongest willed people can use Conqueror’s Haki, but that’s incredibly rare. Even if you had it, it has to reveal itself on its own terms. It’s technically possible to awaken any form of haki through trauma, but I don’t think it would be worth it to risk your lives for something you’re unlikely to have in the first place.

Vivi thought of the fighting in Alubarna, then of Robin’s history, and was fairly certain neither of them would be discovering Conqueror’s Haki. “Let’s focus on armament and observation, then.”

“Chapter: rigorous training! None of us are true masters of haki, but all three of us have unlocked the two basic colors, and we should be able to help you with yours.” Aphelandra smiled and nodded, and Robin cleared her throat.

“To be clear, you’re offering to teach both of us?”

“Well, yes. Why wouldn’t we?”

“No reason.” Robin’s tone was carefully neutral, and if Vivi had to guess she’d say that Robin was still getting over the idea that everyone she met wanted to hurt or betray her.

“All colors of haki are activated with intense focus, though the more you practice the less effort it takes. If you can break someone’s focus, their haki will falter, so that can be helpful in a fight. Once you’ve unlocked one of the colors, the others usually come easily, and most people are predisposed to one or the other. Our teachers could tell that all three of us are better at observation than armament, but I don’t know how, so we’ll just try both methods with you.”

Vivi nodded, and Aphelandra stepped forward. “Would you like to start with physical training or meditation?”

“I’ve always found it easier to clear my head after a workout, so I’d say physical first. Robin, what do you think?”

“Physical training first sounds fine, Miss-” She cut herself off, and Vivi remembered that her life before piracy was a secret. She was really lucky to have Robin as the first crewmate she found. “Captain.”

Vivi beamed, and Sweet Pea stepped forward. “Chapter: training begins! For the physical training, we’ll try to awaken your armament haki by hitting you until your body instinctively protects itself.”

It took a moment for Vivi’s brain to catch up to that, and she opened her mouth to protest. Before she could say anything, she remembered how beat up everyone had been after their showdowns in Alubarna, and how helpless she’d been against Eneru. She could withstand as much pain as necessary to make sure her friends never had to go through anything like that ever again, and haki would help. “Okay.”

Aphelandra hit the hardest, though that was probably because she was the largest. Every time one of them swung, they told her where they were going to hit first, but no matter how much she focused Vivi couldn’t stop any of the blows from coming through. She suspected that there was some kind of trick to this that they didn’t know, because all three of them admitted to being trained for observation haki, but they were going out of their way to help her, so she had no right to complain.

The light started to change, and Vivi guessed that the sun was finally setting. She had no idea how long she’d been weathering blows, but Marguerite glanced up and stepped back. “I think that’s as far as we’re going to get with that today.” She must have seen the disappointment on Vivi’s face, because she waved her hands in front of her. “Don’t worry, it’s really rare for anyone to unlock their haki on the first day. It takes time. Let’s move on to meditation.”

Aphelandra crouched, putting her face on level with Vivi’s. “Well, we’ll be heading back now. It was nice meeting the both of you, and I look forward to doing this more!”

“You’re going?”

“Chapter: meditation is best done alone! Marguerite was the first in our class to unlock her haki, so she has the most practice with it. We’d just be getting in the way.”

“You’ll be meeting us for breakfast to tell stories, right?” Aphelandra looked so expectant that Vivi nodded on reflex, and then realized she had to start thinking of things to talk about. Aphelandra and Sweet Pea vanished into the forest, and Vivi let her muscles ache for a second before pulling herself together.

Marguerite sat cross-legged on the ground, and Vivi and Robin followed suit. “Observation is, at its core, understanding others. Before you can sense all living beings in an area, you have to be able to sense one. We use observation haki as a way to further bond with and understand our snakes, but you don’t have snakes, so I’m improvising a bit here. I’m going to ask the two of you to move closer to each other, and sit facing each other.” Once they were properly positioned, she continued. “Close your eyes and focus on the person in front of you. Listen to their breathing, and match it with your own. Block off all other sounds, all other sensations, until the other person is the only thing you’re focusing on. If either of you feels like you’ve made a breakthrough, let me know.”

She stopped talking, and Vivi focused on Robin. She listened to her breathe, and regulated her own breathing to match. Of course, Robin tried to match her, so it took a minute for the two of them to agree on a breathing pattern. They sat there, breathing in sync, and Vivi tried to push herself further. If she focused, she could hear her own heartbeat, so she strained her ears to try to hear Robin’s. The sounds of the jungle grew, the sun no longer shone through her eyelids, and after what felt like hours Marguerite tapped her on the shoulder.

She opened her eyes to see Marguerite standing above her, and wondered how on earth she didn’t hear her move. “There’s nothing in this jungle that I can’t handle, but it would disrupt your training. We’ll call it a day here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter was getting long, so I cut it here. I had to question whether or not my decision to let Vivi train in haki was a result of reading Tell it to the Marines, a wonderful self-insert fic I highly recommend, but I’ve had this in the works for too long for that to be the case. I’d actually like to thank that fic, as well as another beautiful self-insert (This Bites! which also has some plot points very similar to what I have planned) and two other amazing time travel fics (For Better or for Worse and Second Wind) for reminding me how much I love this fic and that I really should work on it more. Luckily, I find that the further I get in the story, the more I enjoy writing it, so it should come faster now.


	13. Chapter 13

The walk back to town after the first day of training was painful, given how many bruises seemed to be forming on Vivi, but Marguerite was unsympathetic.

“The more you hurt, the more determined you’ll be to prevent the next injury, and the easier it’ll be for you to unlock your haki. Once you’ve awakened your haki, training it to be stronger is much less intense, but you need to get there first. It takes most students between a week and a month, so unless you turned out to be true prodigies I wasn’t expecting much from you today.”

Vivi was too sore to respond, and the rest of the walk was spent in silence. Marguerite took them all the way to their house, and Vivi remembered Aphelandra’s parting words before closing the door. “Where should we meet you for breakfast?”

It took a second for Marguerite to orient herself, and she pointed off to the end of the block. “Third left, go a block, Aphelandra’s is the second house from the end on the right. The door is taller than anyone else’s, so it should stand out.”

Vivi bid her goodnight and shut the door, then groaned. “How does this hurt more than being electrocuted?”

“Technically, it doesn’t. When we were attacked by Eneru, the pain was enough to knock us out almost instantly, though the lasting effects didn’t cause much pain. This pain isn’t enough to cause unconsciousness, so it lingers.”

“It’ll be worth it once we figure it out. If you didn’t know haki after all your time on the run, it must be pretty rare in the Grand Line, so we’ll have an advantage over most people.”

Robin looked at her, head cocked to the side. “It could be a great advantage, yes. Especially conqueror’s, if one of us could unlock it. Why didn’t you press her further on that?”

Vivi sighed and looked at her feet. “Sweet Pea said that conqueror’s haki is awakened by either time or trauma.” Robin hummed in acknowledgement. “I told you there was a war in Alabasta in the future. My people were killing each other in front of me, and nothing I said or did could make them stop until Luffy defeated Crocodile. You lost everything and everyone in a single day. If either of us could use conqueror’s, we’d already have it.”

They prepared for bed in silence. Vivi hoped that she hadn’t brought up too many bad memories for Robin, and resolved to find a way to make it up to her. She didn’t think of anything before falling asleep, and woke up when someone grabbed her shoulder. She pulled herself up, because they promised to eat breakfast with their teachers, and realized that she hadn’t grabbed any clothes from the ship. Robin noticed her staring at her pants, still dirty from sitting on the ground last night, and pointed at a chest of drawers in the corner of the room.

“The previous occupant was around your size.”

Of course, Robin had remembered to grab changes of clothes for herself earlier. Vivi opened the chest to find a collection of bikinis and short skirts, and winced. She was used to wearing significantly more than that, but it would do for now. She changed quickly, and was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the bikini top was. There was a pair of shorts in the back of the drawer, which she preferred to the skirt even if it covered just as little, and she noticed a mirror on the back of the door that she was apparently too tired to see last night.

Vivi was proud to say that she barely recognized herself. With different clothes, different hair, and a massive facial scar, she looked nothing like a princess. All the exposed skin let her check herself for injuries, but the amazons apparently knew what they were doing enough not to leave more than a few light bruises. She smiled at her reflection and went to grab her shoes. The walk over to Aphelandra’s house was short, but Vivi still caught a few people staring at her and Robin. She hoped it was only because they weren’t used to strangers, because if she stood out this much wherever they went she’d have a lot of trouble staying under the radar long enough to get to Luffy.

Aphelandra opened the door after a single knock. “Come right in. Sweet Pea is just finishing up the Sea King bacon.” The smell drew Vivi in more than anything, and she joined Marguerite at the table. Sweet Pea stood on a small stepladder in front of the stove, which was, like everything else in the house, sized for someone over ten feet tall. The table was as tall as Vivi, though only one of the chairs was scaled with it. The other five were stools with rungs like ladders, and Vivi wondered if Aphelandra had to have all her furniture custom made, since as far as Vivi could tell she was the only woman her size on Amazon Lily.

“Chapter: a delicious meal for five!” Sweet Pea jumped down, kicked the stepladder over to the table, and climbed up it to deposit a massive pan of sizzling bacon in the middle. Vivi climbed up onto a stool to see a plate piled with eggs next to it, and giggled at the thought of Luffy swallowing all of it in a single bite and asking for seconds.

Aphelandra took almost a third of the eggs and bacon, which made sense because she was as big as two of them put together, and everyone dug in. Vivi wondered if this would be a daily thing, and slightly hoped it was, because while Robin was better than her, Sweet Pea was a much better chef than Robin. There were no leftovers, and when Marguerite started collecting the dishes Robin grew an arm out of the table to stop her.

“Please, let me.” A conveyor belt of arms stacked everything up, and Robin grew more out of the floor to shift the stepladder and allow her to reach the sink. Marguerite, Sweet Pea, and Aphelandra stared open mouthed, and Vivi cleared her throat.

“Thank you very much for the meal, Sweet Pea. And thank you Aphelandra for inviting us to your home.”

“I mean, I don’t quite fit in Marguerite’s or Sweet Pea’s, so whenever the three of us eat together it has to be here.”

“Chapter: how are you doing that?” Sweet Pea was still staring at Robin, who seemed absorbed in washing dishes. It didn’t take her much effort, with all the hands, but she still needed to focus.

“Robin ate the Flower Flower fruit, and can grow parts of her body out of any surface she can see.”

“A fruit lets you do that? That’s really useful, where did you get it?”

Robin turned around, letting her arms take over. “I found it on my home island. Are there no Devil Fruits here?”

“What’s a Devil Fruit?”

Vivi knew Devil Fruits were rare, but she’d never actually met someone who didn’t even know they existed. Everyone had at least heard rumors, though that might have been because she lived in the Grand Line. “I promised to tell you about the world outside Amazon Lily, didn’t I? Devil Fruits are a part of that.”

Her explanation lasted long enough for Robin to finish washing the dishes, and the amazons listened attentively until she was done. “So Robin’s powers come from a Devil Fruit?”

“Yes.”

“But not a Logia, or she’d turn into flowers, right?”

“Correct. The Flower Flower fruit is a Paramecia, and I assume that whatever fruit Empress Hancock ate is one too.”

“The Princess didn’t eat a Devil Fruit, though. Her powers came from the gorgon she defeated.”

Vivi raised an eyebrow. “Really? I’ve never heard of anything other than a Devil Fruit giving powers like that. Have you, Robin?”

She shook her head, and Aphelandra looked stricken. “She would never lie to us, though.”

Marguerite and Sweet Pea looked similarly distraught, and Vivi decided not to press it. “I’m sure there’s an explanation, but I don’t think the princess would want to be bothered with questions about her past. In any case, those are the basics of Devil Fruits.”

“Is the whole world outside of Amazon Lily full of people like you, then?”

Vivi grinned. “There’s nobody like Robin in the whole world. There can only be one of each fruit at a time, though some Zoan fruits have different models. My friend Chopper ate the Human Human fruit, but Fleet Admiral Sengoku has the Human Human fruit, Buddha model.”

Robin cleared her throat. “To further answer your question, Devil Fruits are fairly rare. They get more common the further along the Grand Line you travel, as people with power tend to congregate in the New World, but the vast majority of pirates, marines, and civilians have not eaten a Devil Fruit.”

Marguerite nodded. “That must be why the Princess is so insistent that only the strongest warriors can join the Kuja Pirates. If any of the weaker women went, they wouldn’t be able to hold their own.”

Vivi laughed. “Marguerite, I’m sure any one of the women on this island could hold their own in the Grand Line. Empress Hancock is one of the most powerful people in the world, and her crew is just as feared. It’s why she was invited to the Warlords.”

“Chapter: the outside world is confusing! What’s a Warlord?”

Vivi blinked. “You’ve never heard of the Seven Warlords of the Sea?” Sweet Pea shrugged, and Aphelandra and Marguerite shook their heads. “Well, I guess that can be my next topic.”

“In that case, you can tell us about the Warlords tomorrow. I came up with a schedule for you, just to make sure we’re not overworking you. We’ll all have breakfast together, and after you’ll tell us about the outside world. After that, we’ll train your Haki until lunch. You can have the afternoon off, and after dinner we’ll train until sunset. Does that sound good to you?”

“Sounds fine. Robin?”

“No objections, Captain.” Vivi smiled, then reminded herself she shouldn’t get used to being called Captain, because that was Luffy’s title.

Morning training was just as grueling as the previous night’s had been, and neither Vivi nor Robin had made any progress by lunch. No matter how much Marguerite assured them that this was normal, Vivi was sure that Luffy had picked it up faster, that Zoro and Sanji figured it out as soon as the idea was presented to them, that she wouldn’t be good enough to measure up to her friends. Her entire body ached, but as soon as she finished eating she picked up her slashers to practice. She was back at the skill level she reached before joining Luffy, but she needed to be better. Robin grew enough arms to form herself a parasol before settling down to read, and Vivi remembered her mentioning that she wanted to improve her stamina. Once they had Armament down, they could spar with each other without dealing any actual damage, but for now they could stick to solo training.

The cycle continued for three days. Vivi explained the Warlord system, which brought up questions about the Marines, so she explained the largest organization in the world. That led to confusion over the World Government, so she covered that next. She managed to avoid blurting out that she knew so much about its inner working because she was one of its leading members before becoming a pirate, which she counted as an improvement. That night, as the sun was setting, Robin spoke up during their Observation training.

“Vivi, did you scratch your nose?” Vivi dropped her arm in surprise, opening her eyes. Robin’s eyes were still closed, and Vivi focused on keeping her breath steady as she quietly lifted her hand to the top of her head. “You’re touching your hair.” She opened her eyes, saw Vivi’s hand, and smiled. “Oh.”

“Robin, don’t move. Where are my hands?” Marguerite was standing behind Robin, looking very excited.

“One is straight up over your head, and the other is on your hip.” Vivi beamed, and Marguerite hopped over to pull Robin to her feet.

“That’s Observation! You did it! How many people can you feel around us?”

Robin closed her eyes. “I’m not sure. The Captain is clear, as are you, but I can’t sense anything further.”

Marguerite waved a hand. “That’s fine, I was just checking. It’s really rare to be good enough to sense more than a few feet when you first unlock it. That you can sense me already is great, though.” She looked at Vivi, still sitting on the ground. She was sure her expression looked rather silly, given how wide she was smiling, but she didn’t care. “I think we’ll call it a day for today. Tomorrow, Aphelandra and Sweet Pea can help you develop your Observation further while I work on unlocking Vivi’s.”

Vivi’s smile fell a bit at the reminder, but she pushed the disappointment aside. Robin had been on the run for most of her life, of course she was predisposed to being aware of other people. She still couldn’t shake the slight jealousy before falling asleep, and it kept festering in the back of her mind in the morning. Marguerite didn’t expect her to talk much that morning, since they were celebrating Robin’s success, and Aphelandra announced that they would be changing Robin’s Armament training to be more like theirs was, less violent and more focused on bringing up the same feelings which Observation evoked.

Vivi tried not to be bitter, she really did. Robin progressed in leaps and bounds, and after a week of Vivi getting nowhere and Robin expanding her range and accuracy every day, Sweet Pea yelled. “Chapter: Armament haki! That’s it, Robin!”

Vivi looked up to see Robin smiling. It was small, but genuine, and Vivi couldn’t quite bring herself to be upset that she was falling further behind. Marguerite and Sweet Pea started to discuss everything they could do to train Robin now, especially in conjunction with her Devil Fruit, and Vivi grit her teeth and tried to focus on stopping Aphelandra from hitting her.

That night, Robin didn’t join her for dinner, and Vivi stewed in her jealousy as she ate. She was still upset when they met up to go to night training, and it didn’t help that Marguerite and Robin were practically arm in arm, chatting happily about the customs of Amazon Lily. Vivi still ached from that morning, and when Robin mentioned being excited to possibly figure out how to use Armament on other objects, like the Kuja’s arrows, she snapped.

“Of course, because you were able to get Observation down, so you don’t have to get hit every day anymore.” Robin’s hurt expression made her regret saying anything immediately. She knew she should be happy for Robin’s talent, but she was sick and tired of not getting anywhere. To her horror, Marguerite nodded, and turned to Robin.

“She has a point. Armament masters train with combat, it’s why we’ve been trying that method of awakening it. If you’re defending yourself, the instinctive response is stronger. Girls, you’ll be working together in training today. I want to try something.”

After a brief whispered conversation, Robin looked even more unhappy than before, and grew an arm out of Vivi’s shoulder. “Chapter: Multi-tasking training! Robin wants to learn how to imbue other things with Armament, so we decided she could start with her extra limbs. To make things easier, Aphelandra will hit you right after the other.”

Aphelandra stepped up, looking apologetic. “I’m going to hit you now, Vivi.” The training sword landed on her shoulder, and Vivi winced at the sting. “Now Robin, I’m going to hit your hand.”

This wasn’t fair. Robin was supposed to have moved on from this part of training. Vivi hadn’t meant to cause her more pain by complaining, she was just jealous because she hadn’t unlocked the skill to protect her yet, this wasn’t  _ fair _ .

The training sword bounced off Robin’s hand with a thud, and Vivi turned to look at it. The hand was pitch black and shiny, and as she looked at it it faded back to its normal tan.

“Chapter: hypothesis proven! You were right, Aphelandra.”

“What?” Vivi was still staring at her shoulder, since Robin dissolved her hand into a flurry of petals.

“Well, Robin told us that you’re so determined to learn haki because you want to help your friends, so I thought that maybe your instinct to protect Robin would be more than to protect yourself. I didn’t think it would work this well, though! I’ve never heard of anyone being able to create visible Armament haki on their first try!”

Robin flexed her hand, and Marguerite grabbed Vivi’s arm, snapping her out of her fugue. “What were you thinking just now?”

“I- I thought it wasn’t fair that Robin would be hurt more because I lost my patience, and because I wasn’t strong enough to protect her.”

“Focus on that feeling, and push it into your arm.”

It was hard to focus on her anger when the shock was turning to excitement, so Vivi focused instead on the protective urge. After a few seconds, her arm turned black, and Marguerite dropped a rock into her hand.

“Squeeze as hard as you can.”

It crumbled into dust, and Vivi lost focus again. “I did it.” The black faded, but she kept staring at her arm for a second. “That’s haki?”

“Armament haki, when fully realized, manifests as a thin black coating. The only people on the island I’ve ever seen able to make it that strong on command are the pirates.” She sounded more impressed than jealous, and Vivi turned to Robin.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped at you, I was just so frustrated, and-”

Robin cut her off with a shake of her head. “No need to apologize, Captain. I understand the feeling.”

Vivi nodded, and Marguerite looked at the sky. “It’s still early. Vivi, let’s see if we can unlock your Observation haki before night falls. Robin, grow an arm behind one of the trees.”

She crossed her arms, and after a moment nodded. “What next?”

Marguerite whistled, and her snake uncoiled from her shoulders to slither off. “I want you to keep that arm there while trying to pick out my snake in the forest.” Robin closed her eyes, focusing, and Marguerite turned to Vivi. “Focus on the feeling from before, and turn it outward. You want to protect your friends, but you can’t do that if you don’t know where they are. See if you can sense which tree Robin’s arm is behind.” She paused for a moment, then turned to Aphelandra and Sweet Pea. “I’m sorry, I can’t think of anything for you two to help with right now.”

“Chapter: end of the day’s work! It’s enough for us to have helped you unlock their haki, Marguerite. We can spend more time training ourselves, now. Maybe it’s time for a new chapter: Sweet Pea and Aphelandra’s renewed vigor!”

Aphelandra nodded, and Marguerite waved them off. Vivi tuned out the slowly rising cacophony of the forest, and tried to focus on Robin. She could hear her breathing, calm at her side, and instead of clearing her mind she focused on how much she had grown to care about her. She wouldn’t have believed it two months ago if someone told her she’d consider Robin her best friend, but Kohza was left behind with the rest of her country, and Luffy was half a world away. She would give almost anything to protect Robin, and with that fresh in her mind she listened to her breathing again. It hadn’t changed, and she thought for a second she could hear Robin’s heartbeat. In fact, she was pretty sure that was what the steady thump was, but was it supposed to be coming from two directions?

Vivi opened her eyes and turned towards the second source of noise, and Marguerite took a sharp breath. “Robin, grow another arm, behind a different tree.”

The noise doubled, and Vivi turned towards the new point. Realizing what Marguerite implied, she turned to Robin, who was staring at her. “I can hear your heartbeat.”

“So your Observation is stronger in your hearing. Can you hear me?”

Vivi closed her eyes and listened towards Marguerite, but she could still only hear Robin. “No, just Robin.”

“That’s fine. Most people can only sense those they have a close bond to at first.” Robin no longer seemed to be focusing on looking for Marguerite’s snake, but a moment later she closed her eyes and crossed her arms. There was a startled hiss from above, and the snake fell onto Marguerite’s shoulders, a finger growing out of its body to scratch it on the head.

“Found you.”

Marguerite beamed. “We’ll skip morning training tomorrow to come up with a better training schedule now that you’ve both unlocked your haki, and I’m treating you to lunch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went through a few drafts of this chapter, and I'm still not a hundred percent happy with the pacing, but next chapter Vivi will be leaving Amazon Lily and heading off towards Water 7 and Franky! I've been eagerly anticipating reaching CP9 since I decided how Vivi takes care of them, so combined with my lower workload from school at the moment the next few chapters should come relatively fast.


	14. Chapter 14

Lunch was delicious, and training haki turned out to be much less strenuous than unlocking it. Both Vivi and Robin spent time meditating to work on expanding the range and scope of their Observation, though Vivi was working on being able to sense more than just things she already knew about and Robin was working on gauging the power level of warriors on the other side of the island. They sparred with their three new friends, to work on predicting an opponent’s moves in a fight, and work on using Armament. Robin worked at keeping her Armament consistent and strong enough to block blows, but Marguerite freely admitted that the only way she could help Vivi with her Armament was to help figure out how to summon it at will.

Two weeks of training later, Vivi had figured out that thinking about Luffy was the fastest way to summon her Armament haki, but thinking about Crocodile resulted in a slightly stronger coating. Her Observation was good enough to tell where people were within a few hundred feet of her, but not enough to predict an opponent. Robin could only summon Armament in a pinch, but her Observation was enough that she could dodge arrows shot from right behind her, and it didn’t matter as much if she couldn’t block attacks when none of them ever hit. Marguerite said it was amazing progress for less than a month of training, and as if summoned by the reminder of the passage of time, when they returned to town that night, all anyone was talking about was the Kuja Pirates leaving.

Lily was waiting at their door, and Vivi waved. “I wasn’t sure if you’d heard, so I came to tell you myself. We're setting out at noon tomorrow, and the Princess said she’ll be towing your ship out with us whether or not you’re on it.”

“Thank you, Lily. We’ll be there.”

It didn’t take long to pack their things, and after some contemplation Vivi packed a few of the fur bikini tops. They were comfortable, even if they were a bit more risque than her normal clothes. The amazons weren’t big on pants, sadly, and she resolved to buy more in Water 7. It only took one trip to load everything onto the waver and drag it over to the ship, which was in a sorry state after a month of inactivity. Vivi felt a bit bad about that, even if it was a stolen ship. She was pleased to note that Robin’s box of new books was much easier to carry than it would have a month ago, and wondered if she could ask Franky to include a lighter set of weights along with Zoro’s enormous ones so she could work even more on her physical strength.

Unfortunately, Marguerite, Aphelandra, and Sweet Pea were all busy helping the Kuja Pirates load up the ship, so they weren’t able to have one last breakfast with their friends before leaving. Vivi and Robin got up at the crack of dawn to buy supplies that kept well at sea, and once the pantry was full they got to work getting the ship back into shape to sail. Their new friends waved whenever they passed by, and when noon rolled around they managed to get close enough to the front of the crowd to shout their own parting words.

“We’ll miss you! Good luck!”

“Keep up your training! I hope you find your friends!”

“Chapter: we’ll meet you on the seas once we’re strong enough to join the Princess!”

Vivi looked at Sweet Pea, who had one arm up to wave and another cupping her mouth to yell, and was so strongly reminded of her own parting from Luffy that she shouted back without even thinking. “I’ll hold you to that!”

She wasn’t sure what Luffy would think of the amazons, though she was fairly certain of how they’d react to him, not to mention Sanji, or Brook. Really, the crew had far too many men on it to be acceptable to the Kuja. If they met again, it would be as enemies, because she didn’t have the authority to make that call. Then again, they might run into each other before she found Luffy. That wouldn’t be too bad.

Empress Hancock shouted something, incomprehensible over the din of the crowd, and the giant snakes, apparently called Yuda, started to move. The ships pulled forward, towards the opening gate, and Vivi waved goodbye to her friends until they entered the tunnel and she couldn’t see them anymore. She glanced up to the deck of the Kuja ship, but the pirates were all busy, and Hancock had retreated to her cabin. The speed of the Yuda made more of a breeze than Vivi had felt all month, and she took a deep breath.

“I’m going to look over my notes again. Tell me when we reach the Grand Line.” Robin nodded, and Vivi entered her cabin. She had been too focused on making herself stronger to do much planning on Amazon Lily, which she regretted, because Water 7 was one of the most dangerous places she had to visit to assemble Luffy’s crew. Some pages smelled vaguely of rotten fruit, which she ignored, and she laid out everything to do with Water 7 to review what she knew.

Luffy hadn’t gone directly to Water 7 after Skypiea, because the dates didn’t match up, so the Log Pose was probably pointing somewhere else right now. Shortly after they arrived, they were accused of attempting to assassinate Mayor Iceburg, though she was relatively certain they were framed. Another attempt on the Mayor’s life was made the next day, which also failed. There were four CP9 agents on Water 7, though she could only remember three of their names, since their bounties were quietly rescinded a few months after Ace’s death. The CP9 agents had taken Robin and Franky onto the Sea Train, and the Straw Hats had followed to Enies Lobby. Usopp, in disguise for some reason, had shot down the World Government flag on Luffy’s orders, and the Straw Hats defeated CP9 to a man before reclaiming Robin, razing the island to the ground, and miraculously escaping ten fully staffed battleships on the Merry. Merry was too badly damaged to continue on after that, so their beloved ship was given a proper burial at sea. Part of their fortune from Skypiea was used to buy Adam wood so Franky and Iceburg could build the Sunny, and the Straw Hat Pirates were chased off the island by Vice Admiral Garp, who might have failed to apprehend them on purpose because he’s Luffy’s grandfather.

She stared at her notes, biting her lip. She didn’t know who tried to assassinate Iceburg, or why, but CP9 seemed the most likely culprits, and that meant she couldn’t just avoid them. Without Luffy, their plan might have succeeded, and she couldn’t abandon an innocent man to die. Robin was good enough at Observation Haki now that she would be able to take down anyone, even an elite government assassin, without being seen. Of course, it would be much harder to find all four and take them down before any of them realized something was wrong and either called for backup or fought back, especially since she didn’t know one of their names. Unless, of course, she found something that could convince them to leave without a fight, but from what she knew, Cipher Pol groups were ruthless and would never give up unless ordered to.

Actually, that gave her an idea. She thought back to the Reverie, where they’d discussed diverting seastone-bottomed battleships to protect trade routes before Blackbeard grabbed her, and smiled. That might just work. If it didn’t, there was always the backup plan of having Robin take them down. Violence should be avoided whenever possible, but it tended to work wonders as a Plan B. She wasn’t sure exactly how to pull any of this off, so she’d go talk to Franky first, just in case he knew anything useful. Robin might be able to help too, if she knew anything about Cipher Pol.

With the planning settled for now, Vivi closed her eyes and reached out with her Haki, just to see what she could sense. Robin was sitting on deck, fairly calm if her heartbeat was anything to judge by. Hancock and her sisters were in their cabin, or at least she assumed that’s where they were, since the various other pirates she could sense had steady heartbeats instead of the palpitations that tended to happen around the most beautiful woman in the world. She could sense the Yuda as well, though less clearly than any of the people, and she felt someone jump from the Kuja ship down to stand next to Robin. She opened her eyes and went up to deck to find Lily, who waved.

“I thought you’d like to know our plan. The Princess is heading for the Grand Line side of the Calm Belt, and once we’re clear we’ll cut you loose. She can’t be seen associating with you, for her position’s sake. It’s a testament to how kind she is that she’s helped you this much.” Vivi nodded, though Robin’s calm seemed forced. She frowned, and resolved to ask her about that later.

“Thank you for telling us, Lily. How long will it be until we reach the Grand Line?”

“Probably an hour or two.” Someone yelled on the Kuja ship’s deck, and Lily winced. “I have to get back to work. Even if the Yuda do most of the work, we still have to keep the ship in shape.”

Vivi watched her jump back onto the Kuja ship, and turned to Robin. “Shall we spar?”

“Of course, Captain.” Robin grew an arm behind her, probably to try to trip her, and Vivi jumped away. Robin raised an eyebrow, and Vivi realized she had sensed it with Observation without consciously trying. Robin wouldn’t be able to surprise her with random limbs anymore. She grinned, and pulled out her slashers.

Robin dodged everything Vivi threw at her, but Vivi barely even felt any of her attacks, so they were at an exhausted stalemate when the Kuja lookout shouted that there was a storm on the horizon. Vivi turned to see it, and the sight of a black cloud had never made her happier. They must have been nearing the edge of the Calm Belt, and from there it wouldn’t be long before they reached Water 7 and Franky. She still wasn’t a hundred percent sure she knew how to convince him to join them, but they had time to wear him down.

“Is the Log Pose still steady, Captain?”

Vivi startled out of her thoughts and shook her head to clear it. “Uh, hold on. I left it in my room.” Amazon Lily, as part of the Calm Belt, had no effect on Log Poses, so it was still pointing to the destination after Skypiea. She returned to deck to show it to Robin, and strapped it onto her wrist. It didn’t look anywhere near as natural on her as it did on Nami, and she reminded herself that, if everything went well, they’d be going to East Blue soon enough. “It’s holding strong.”

“And you’re certain it will lead us to Water 7?”

Vivi hesitated. Now that Robin pointed it out, she had no way of knowing if the Straw Hats followed their Log Pose to Water 7 or if they’d stumbled across it, like they had with Drum. Still, it was a well known trade center, due to the Sea Train, so no matter where the Log Pose pointed, someone would be selling Eternal Poses. That actually reminded her, she should probably find somewhere to buy an Eternal Pose to Drum. It might be good to get one for Twin Capes too, since they’d need to go there to reunite Brook with Laboon.

“Luffy reached Water 7 from Skypiea, and with Nami they must have been following the Log Pose. It's unlikely it points directly there, but I assume it's either the next island or can be reached easily from an island in this particular chain.” Robin accepted that, and Vivi looked over her notes again. The more she thought about it, the more she was able to assure herself that this would work, but it all hinged on exactly why CP9 tried to kill Iceburg. After rereading everything three times, a breeze nearly blew one of the pages away, and she barely caught it in time. She frowned at the wind, then realized what it meant.

“We’re out of the Calm Belt.” Robin had apparently noticed too, and retreated to her room to put her book away. Vivi turned her face into the wind for a moment, breathing in the fresh sea breeze. She hadn’t realized just how much she missed the wind, or weather in general, and pulled herself together. She looked down to the Log Pose, and followed its needle to the horizon. There were no islands visible, but the dark clouds still visible on the horizon were moving away from their destination, which was as much as she could hope for.

A loud whistle distracted her from thoughts of Nami, and she looked up to the Kuja ship to see the Yuda slow to a stop. She looked up to the Kuja ship, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw Boa Hancock looking down at her and Robin.

“Nico Robin.” Robin seemed flustered to be addressed directly by the Empress, and Vivi stamped down irrational jealousy. “The World Government is your enemy. Never stop fighting them, and find allies where you can. If you surrender or die, they win, and that cannot be allowed to happen.” She whirled, and a single blow from her heel snapped the foot thick rope towing them. “Go. If word of this moment of mercy reaches the ears of those who would do me harm, I will execute you personally.”

Robin nodded slowly, and Hancock whistled. The Yuda started moving again, and Vivi snapped out of her daze to wave goodbye to Lily. A clap of thunder in the distance reminded her that the Grand Line never stayed safe for long, and she stepped to the wheel. “Unfurl the sail. We need to get moving.”

Robin sat down, crossed her arms, and got to work. Vivi kept one eye on the Log Pose and another on the horizon, and within five minutes a storm sprang up out of nowhere, though she was sure Nami would have been able to point out all the little tells. The ship pitched so much that it would have normally been impossible to perform the necessary maintenance on the sails without someone falling off, part of what made Robin’s powers so useful. It passed as quickly as it had arrived, and Vivi got them back on course. The mast creaked, and she prayed that it would hold together long enough to get them to Water 7. When they were once again following the Log Pose, Robin spoke up. “There’s something powerful swimming near the surface, at about 2 o’clock. It feels smaller than any Sea King I’ve ever seen, but it doesn’t feel human either.”

Vivi thought for a moment. “We’ll keep going straight. Keep an eye on it and tell me if it gets closer.”

Everything stayed peaceful for almost a full minute before the thing Robin noticed jumped out of the water. It landed on the surface and roared, though it was more accurately a very loud croak, since the creature appeared to be a giant frog. She had no idea how it was staying on top of the water, but a second later a faint whistle reminded her of what Water 7 was famous for.

She scanned the horizon, and sure enough there was a thin black line approaching from behind them, heading straight for where the frog appeared to be standing on the water. She and Robin were far enough away that the train wouldn’t hit them, but the frog showed no signs of moving, and she wondered what it was doing. As far as she remembered from the brief research she’d done into it, seastone on the rails kept Sea Kings and fish off the tracks, so this frog must be special somehow.

The train was moving faster than she first thought, and she and Robin watched it approach the frog. It moved into a wrestling stance, and Vivi realized in horror that not only was it intelligent, it was going to try to stop the train, and there was no way it was going to succeed. She could only watch, and it croaked again right before the impact. The frog went flying, landing in the water between them and the train, which continued unimpeded. Vivi turned the wheel, and Robin cleared her throat.

“Captain?”

“Pull it up when we get close enough, I want to make sure it’s okay.” Robin didn’t respond, but that wasn’t an objection, so Vivi counted it as agreement. It only took a minute to reach the frog, and when Robin hauled it up she realized it was almost bigger than her. It coughed up water onto the deck, and Vivi glanced at Robin. “Keep an eye out, I don’t want us to lose track of the tracks.”

The frog croaked, and Vivi crouched next to it. Oddly, despite having just been hit by a train, it didn’t seem to be injured. At least, there were no bleeding wounds; the frog was covered in scars. It opened its eyes to stare at her, and she smiled at it.

“My name is Vivi. We saw you get hit by the train, and wanted to help. Are you hurt at all?” The frog shook its head, and she nodded. “That’s good. Was there a reason you were trying to stop the Sea Train?”

The frog croaked, and pushed itself upright, looking around. It glared at the train retreating in the distance, then pointed along the tracks in the opposite direction, where they’d been coming from, and croaked again. Before Vivi could try to guess what that meant, it hopped to the edge of the deck, and she realized it was trying to leave.

“Please wait, frog. Is Water 7 in that direction?” It croaked, and she nodded. “We’ll give you a lift, then. We’re heading that way, and even if you’re not hurt you must be tired. It’s the least we can do in exchange for you pointing us in the right direction.”

The frog croaked, and sat down instead of jumping off, so she assumed it accepted her offer. She missed Chopper. Luckily, the islands connected by the Sea Train were all spring and autumn islands, so as long as they stayed along the tracks the weather shouldn’t be too crazy. After half an hour of smooth sailing, the frog started to get excited, and Vivi noticed a small dot on the horizon.

“Two weak people and one small animal.” Robin was looking directly at the slowly growing dot, and the frog croaked. “I assume this was your destination, then?” It croaked again, and within a few minutes the dot turned into a small train station. Vivi had no idea why there was a station in the middle of the ocean, it seemed a little pointless to her, but if there were people there then they could get better directions to Water 7 than the croaking of an intelligent frog.

As soon as they were close enough to read the sign on the station, the frog jumped overboard and started swimming towards it. An elderly woman in a conductor’s cap emerged, followed by a young girl with an unidentifiable animal balanced on her head. The frog jumped up onto the station to stand in front of them, and the girl threw her arms as far around it as she could, or at least Vivi assumed she did because she completely disappeared behind the giant frog. They slowed the ship to a halt, pulling up next to the station, and the girl reemerged from the frog’s embrace.

“I was worried about you, Yokozuna! Granny said you were going to try to stop the train again, and you could have gotten hurt!”

“He did indeed attempt to stop the train, though he seemed to be uninjured when we picked him up.” Robin sounded amused, and the frog pushed the girl away to croak.

The elderly woman cackled. “Stubborn to the last, you old brute.” The frog croaked again, and Vivi wondered if the woman could understand it. “Is that so?” She looked at Vivi, tilting her head. “Yokozuna says you picked him up.”

“We did. I was worried when I saw him try to stop the train, but he appears to be fine.”

“He’s a tough bastard, that’s for sure.” She took a swig out of a bottle, and cackled again. “It’s nice to meet you, kid. The name’s Kokoro, this frog here is Yokozuna, and this is my granddaughter, Chimney.”

Vivi opened her mouth to introduce herself in response, but hesitated. She didn’t know Kokoro, and given their proximity to Water 7 she didn’t want to put Robin at risk any more than necessary. “I’m Vivi. My friend here is a little shy, don’t mind her. We’re on our way to Water 7, can you point us in the right direction?”

“Sure thing, kid. It’s over that way, you should arrive before nightfall if this wind keeps up.” She pointed in the same direction Yokozuna had, which was reassuring. “What’re you heading there for?”

“I’m hoping to commission a ship, and the world’s best shipwright lives there.”

Kokoro stared at her for a long moment, then cackled again. “I don’t know about now, but he sure used to. Wait just a minute.” She retreated into the station, and Chimney stepped forward, eyes shining.

“Where are you from? Granny says all kinds of people pass through here.”

“I’m from an earlier island on the Grand Line, and Ro-” she caught herself before she could blurt out Robin’s name “- my friend here is from West Blue.”

“That’s so cool! Where in West Blue?”

“It’s not on any maps, I’m sure you’ve never heard of it.”

Kokoro returned and threw something at them. Vivi caught it on reflex, and found it was a letter. “The mayor of Water 7 is my good friend Iceburg. Show him that, and you should get a nice discount on whatever you want done. Call it returning the favor, after you helped out Yokozuna.”

Vivi had no plans to commission Galley-La for anything, but the gesture was thoughtful, and she might be able to use the letter to convince Iceburg she was trustworthy. “Thank you very much, Kokoro.” Robin nudged her arm and pointed to the rack of newspapers next to the station door, and Vivi caught her meaning. “When is that paper from?”

“Last week. Old news now, but the coos are always unreliable this close to the Florian Triangle.”

“It’ll be new to us. I haven’t seen a paper since Crocodile was kicked out.”

Kokoro threw them one, laughing again. “I’m sure you’ll find this interesting, then. They finally found him a replacement.”

Vivi looked at the front page, and thought absently that the last time she’d been this confused by a headline was when Luffy rang the Ox Bell.

_ Gentleman Sabo, former bounty 341 million Beris, appointed Warlord! _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> B)  
> Sadly, I couldn't find a time for Vivi and Hancock to interact again in the foreseeable future. At some point in the very far future they might, and it would be a beautiful reunion. Next chapter might take some time, dialogue isn't going where I want it to, but I'm really looking forward to this upcoming arc so I should be able to work on it more.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven’t updated in a while, I got a job and it’s taking a lot more out of me than I thought it would. Updates will not settle into a consistent schedule over the summer as I naively hoped, but I have put so much into this story that I can’t stop thinking about it, and I promise that it isn’t abandoned.

Vivi bid Kokoro a distracted goodbye as Robin got them moving again, and sat down on a barrel to read the article. Apparently, Sabo and Ace had set out together, and they were co-captains of the Spade Pirates. After Ace’s latest bounty hike, which Vivi had noticed in Alabasta, Sabo was approached with an offer to join the Warlords. According to the article, he got into a fight with Ace over the offer, and Sabo denounced his brother, quit their pirate crew, and accepted the position. The Marines were delighted to talk about how fickle pirates were, how prestigious the position was, and how strong Sabo was that he could go toe to toe with a logia and come out on top, but none of it answered Vivi’s pressing question of how on earth any of it made  _ sense _ .

She had only ever met Ace for a few minutes, and never actually met Sabo, but she knew Luffy, and he would consider it the worst possible crime to betray one of his brothers. She was fairly certain they would agree, considering that Ace was captured while trying to avenge the murder of one of his brothers on Whitebeard’s crew and Sabo made the papers for staunchly defending his little brother in Dressrosa, so it made no sense that Sabo would do this. She also had no idea why he wasn’t in the Revolutionary Army with amnesia, and wondered just how many other things Blackbeard had changed. She didn’t even know if killing Shanks had been his only action, he could have done any number of things she had no way of knowing about. At the end of the article was a list of current Warlords, and a note that the Marines were hard at work to find a suitable seventh member, and she thought back to the original timeline.

“Why isn’t Mihawk on this list?” Robin stared at her, and she held up the paper. “The current Warlords are Sabo, Hancock, Jinbe, Doflamingo, Kuma, and Moria. Sabo replaced Crocodile, but there was an opening already, the first big news story I can remember after I joined Baroque Works was the world’s greatest swordsman becoming a Warlord. Why isn’t he one now?”

Robin hummed. “He refused. It’s the first time an invitation has been turned down, to my knowledge. I had thought to ask you about it, but if he was one in your time I assume you have no more idea as to why than anyone else. The Marines considered giving him a bounty for the slight, but Mihawk has never attacked Marines or flown a black flag, so they can’t legally treat him as anything but a skilled bounty hunter. Of course, they’ve ignored laws in the past when it suits them, but he would be a very dangerous enemy, so they settled for keeping the whole thing quiet.”

Vivi frowned at the paper. She wished she could ask Sabo what he was thinking, but she had no idea how to get in touch with either of Luffy’s brothers. She also had no idea when Ace joined Whitebeard, or if this odd event would have any bearing on that decision, or how Luffy might be different if apparently he didn’t lose one of his brothers at a young age. There were too many questions, and she had exactly no answers, so Vivi took a deep breath and pushed them all aside. She couldn’t do anything about Ace, or Sabo, and worrying about them would only distract her from more immediate concerns.

“Who is Gentleman Sabo? Why is he so important?”

“He and Ace are Luffy’s brothers.”

Robin raised an eyebrow, looking at the paper. “Why do the three brothers all have different family names?”

“They’re not blood relatives. Luffy is Dragon’s son, and Ace is Gold Roger’s, which is why he goes by his mother’s name. I’m not sure who Sabo’s parents are, Luffy never mentioned.”

There was a shower of petals, indicating Robin had dissolved all of her arms, and Vivi turned around to check on her. She looked like she’d received the shock of her life, and Vivi realized that she’d once again said something she really shouldn’t have.

“Gold Roger had a child?”

“I shouldn’t have said that.” Robin blinked, and Vivi bit her lip to force herself to calm down. “Please just forget you heard that. He never wanted anyone to know, people want him dead just for existing.” Robin was still stunned into silence, and Vivi looked to the horizon, hoping for a distraction. “Look, I think I see Water 7! Come on, we need to get ready to dock.”

Robin stayed quiet for the duration of their approach, and as they got close Vivi admired the architecture. It was no wonder someone with Franky’s skills came from such a beautiful island, but almost as soon as she thought that she noticed a misshapen hulk of a building near the shore. It was fairly large, surrounded by scrap metal, and looked very much like someone built a small hut and added rooms whenever they needed them. It also said FRANKY above the door in large letters, and she resisted the urge to bury her face in her hands.

“Franky. Isn’t that the name of the shipwright you mentioned, Captain?”

“It is. I suppose we know where he lives, at least.” Lights came on inside the hideous structure, and she sighed. “We’ll drop anchor off the shore here and go talk to him.”

“Not at a dock?”

“CP9 is here, working for Iceburg in disguise. I don’t want them to know about us unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

Robin stilled, and Vivi glanced over to see she was staring at her again. “CP9 is here?”

Vivi thought for a second, and realized she’d never actually said that aloud. “Yes. I have most of a plan to get rid of them safely, but I need to talk to Franky first, and probably Iceburg too.”

Robin didn’t look reassured. They couldn’t get too close to shore, since shore was actually a large pile of scrap metal that dropped off too shallowly for their hull, so they pulled out a rowboat. Vivi grabbed two of the cases of money, and Robin gave her an odd look which she ignored. Almost as soon as they started to row closer, strains of music were audible, and Vivi caught herself hoping that Brook could convince Franky that volume was not a replacement for talent. As they beached the rowboat, a portly man with round goggles and spiky hair emerged from the loud and bright building to stare at them.

“Don’t you know this is the Franky House? What’re two girls like you doing in a place like this?”

Robin smirked, but before she could dispense one of her usual threatening and terrifying comments Vivi stepped forward. “We’re here to see Franky. I have an offer for him.”

The man gave her a weird look, and Vivi wondered if Robin’s method might actually be better in this case. Before she could try, someone appeared behind the man, and it took Vivi a second to recognize him. He was so much smaller than when she’d met him, but a triple pointed chin and bright blue hair was a rather unique combination, and his bounty poster from when he first joined was rather easy to call to mind.

“Whoa, hello there gorgeous. What’s a super smoking babe like you doing in a place like this?” He leaned up against the door frame and winked, and Vivi realized he was flirting with Robin. She really wasn’t sure how that would end, so she interrupted before Robin could reenact, unprompted, the event which caused Franky to join originally.

“My friend and I have an offer for you, but we’d like to discuss it in private. Would you be able to accommodate us, Mr Franky?” He lifted his eyebrows, and Vivi threw in a wink of her own. It felt weird to flirt with him, but she’d done more uncomfortable things for people she cared about far less. Robin followed suit by slowly looking him up and down with a smile, which seemed to convince him. He beamed even wider, pulled the man with goggles out of the way, and bowed so sharply that his butt shoved the door open.

“After you, ladies.”

The party inside was like nothing she’d ever seen before. The music was loud, the lights were blinding, and she was fairly certain nothing any of these people were doing counted as dancing. Two women with square hair were singing and dancing on a stage, to the cheers of anyone close enough to actually hear, and Franky waved at them. They waved back happily without pausing their routine, and Franky made a path through the press of bodies just by being there. Vivi followed, Robin at her heels, and they made it across the room to a small door, which Franky ushered them through.

The room was smaller, with a couch and table positioned across from a chair that looked more like a throne. It was much quieter in there, though she could swear the pulse of the music was shaking the floor, and she and Robin sat on the couch. Franky seated himself in the throne-like chair, and would have looked every inch the confident businessman if not for his ridiculous hair and lack of pants.

“Sorry about the noise. We just made a big score, and we’re celebrating with a party. So, what do you have to offer, ladies?”

Vivi kept her face neutral and set one of the briefcases of money on the table. “I was hoping for an exchange. We have the money for you to purchase enough of the treasure tree Adam to make a ship, which you would construct for us, mostly to whatever design you choose but including some special features I have need of. You also tell us everything you know about why CP9 wants Iceburg dead, so we can protect him. In exchange, you can follow your dream of building the ship that will carry the next Pirate King to Raftel, and I invite you to join us on it. Your adopted brother will also be kept safe, though that is of course in no way contingent on your cooperation, simply facilitated by your assistance.”

Franky’s mouth opened and closed like a fish a few times before he collected himself. “CP9 is here?” Vivi nodded, and he swore. “How do you know?”

Vivi weighed her options. On the one hand, she wasn’t planning on keeping any secrets from the crew, but on the other she needed him to trust her right now and he might not believe the whole truth. “I was affected by a Devil Fruit that gave me partial knowledge of the future. I don’t know all the details, but someone is going to try to assassinate Iceburg, and the most likely culprit is CP9, as four of its operatives are undercover working for him.”

Robin frowned, and Vivi realized she’d never mentioned that to Robin either. “That doesn’t make sense. CP9 are elite operatives, if they wanted him dead he’d be dead.”

“Unless they just wanted him to think his life was in danger so he’d start thinking about where his possessions would go after his death.” Franky was seething, and glared at Vivi. “You said you have a plan to protect him?”

Vivi nodded. “CP9 are ruthless, but they’re still an organization with a leader. If I can convince that leader to back off, they’ll follow orders and leave.”

Robin stared at Franky, calculating. “I assume you know which of his possessions they’re looking to retrieve.”

Franky nodded, then stiffened. “How do I know you’re not working with them?”

“You don’t, but we’re the best shot you have.” Robin stared him down, and to Vivi’s relief Franky gave first, slumping in his chair.

“They want the blueprints for a counter to Pluton.” Vivi’s mouth dropped open, and Robin actually gasped. “It’s an ancient weapon, the most dangerous ship to ever sail the seas. They’ve been passed down from shipwright to apprentice for centuries, and Iceburg got them from our teacher, Tom.”

Vivi reached out to comfort Franky, and was surprised to feel his cold skin until she remembered he was a cyborg. “Well then, we’ll protect him and the blueprints. We’re not going to let the government get their hands on something that could rival Pluton. Nobody is resurrecting the ancient weapons if we have anything to say about it.”

Franky looked up, but not at Vivi. “You’re Nico Robin, aren’t you?” She nodded, and he sighed, pulling his arm away from Vivi. “Well then. What’s your plan?”

Vivi sat up straight. “We’re going to kidnap Iceburg, frame the government, and use him to lure out CP9 so I can call their boss and convince him to call them off.” He and Robin both stared at her, and she realized that she could take it a step further. “If you’ll agree to come with us on the ship you’re going to build, I can tell them I’m taking the plans off the island, so they’re guaranteed not to come back. With Robin with me, I’m sure we can convince them we forced Iceburg to tell us where he hid them, and she has enough of a reputation that they’ll believe it.”

It took a few seconds for him to respond to that, and the response was just burying his face in one hand. He raised a finger on the other hand, signaling them to wait, and after another few seconds he started to shake. Before Vivi could decide whether or not to offer another comforting touch, he dropped his hands, and she realized he was just failing to suppress laughter. It rang out through the room, loud enough to drown out the party still going on just outside, and she wasn’t sure whether or not to take it as a good sign.

It took almost two minutes for him to calm down enough to talk again. “How did you even get to a point where this makes any sense? Your plan is to hire a dismantler you’ve never met to build you a ship, and then blackmail and lie to elite government agents to protect another man you’ve never met, based on knowledge of the future that might not even be accurate.”

Vivi winced. “I’ll admit it doesn’t sound too smart when you say it like that. If you’re concerned about Iceburg’s safety, I could-”

He cut her off, still chuckling. “No, no. I’m just impressed. I believe you about CP9, they’ve been after the blueprints for over a decade and I can entirely believe they’d stoop to something like this. I don’t know what you have on the World Government that makes you think that they’ll listen, but my gut is telling me to trust you. I’ll buy you the wood. You were right to come to me about it, I know a guy in San Faldo who gets a few good sized chunks on the market every few years, but it’s not cheap. The bit he’s got up now will run you at least two hundred million Beris. Even we’ve never been able to save up that much, and we-”

Before Franky could say anything to defend his terrible money management skills, which probably had something to do with the crazy party going on right now, Vivi lifted the second briefcase onto the table. “How much more than two hundred do you think it’ll run? We can spare up to another one, but I’d rather not.”

Franky raised an eyebrow. “One? One what?”

She popped open the cases. “Another one hundred million.”

Franky’s eyes almost bugged out of his skull. “Where the hell did you get that much cash?”

“She killed God.”

Franky stared for a long few seconds, then cackled. “Okay, I won’t ask. I can place the order tomorrow, but it’ll be a few days to ship. That alright with you?”

“Perfect. We won’t want to start construction until after CP9 are gone anyways. Thank you for agreeing to this, truly.”

“Oh, I’m not building anything. I’m just the messenger here. I might be convinced to look over some blueprints for you, to point out any flaws, but I swore off building ships a long time ago. You’ll have to talk to Iceburg about that, I’m sure he’ll be more than happy after you save his ass from CP9.”

Vivi wasn’t sure how to respond to that. During her brief reunion with the Straw Hats, nobody did more than vaguely mention how they met Franky, or what convinced him to build them the Sunny. It was probably something to do with Luffy’s charisma, or possibly Merry’s death, neither of which she was capable of recreating. Unable to think of anything else, she nodded, hoping that she could figure something out before construction began.

Franky stood up, then looked down at Vivi. “Who even are you?”

She blinked, then laughed. “I never did introduce myself. I apologize. My name is Vivi. I’m the acting captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. Our captain, Luffy, is the man who will be King of the Pirates.”

Franky stared at her for a long few seconds before smiling and extending a hand. It was much smaller than the hands she first saw on him, no need yet for a smaller hand to extend out of it, and she reached out her own to shake it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Vivi. Now, why don’t you and Robin stay the night? We’ve got plenty of room, and it’ll keep you off the radar for a little bit longer.”

Vivi smiled gratefully, then turned to Robin. “What do you think?”

“I see no problem, captain. I would suggest you retrieve the remaining cases from the ship, though. It wouldn’t do for us to be robbed in the middle of the night.” She looked directly at Franky as she said that, and he laughed again.

“Nobody would dare mess with the Franky Family, or anyone we choose to call our guests. I’ll tell the gang you’re not to be disturbed, and we can hammer out some specifics about your plan in the morning. For now, I want to get back to the party.”

Vivi and Robin took the cue to stand, and Robin held her back lightly as Franky headed out. Once the door shut behind him, her grip tightened and her polite facade dropped. “What on earth were you thinking? Cipher Pol are powerful, extremely so, and I cannot think of anything you could do to them that could force them to back off. We need to leave, now, before they find us.”

Vivi shook the hand off, frowning. “No, we can’t. We need the Sunny, I’m not leaving Iceburg to die, and we can’t risk them achieving their goal and getting their hands on something strong enough to match an ancient weapon. With your haki and Devil Fruit nobody stands a chance against you unless they have haki too, and even then only if they’re expecting you, which they won’t be because nobody knows where you went after we left Alabasta and your observation is strong enough you don’t even have to be in the same building as someone to incapacitate them. We’ll kidnap Iceburg, I’ll blackmail their boss into calling off his men, and everything will be fine.” Robin still looked worried. “You have to trust me on this, Robin. In a fair fight we wouldn’t stand a chance, but we were both part of Baroque Works, and I know politics. We don’t have to play fair.”

Robin cracked a smile at her mention of politics, and Vivi smiled back. “I did mean what I said. It would be unwise to leave any valuables on the ship overnight.”

“I’ll go get the remaining money and a few of my things, in that case. Is there anything of yours you’d like me to get?”

Robin started to shake her head, then paused. “The book I was reading before we set out, perhaps. I have a feeling I won’t be sleeping much tonight.”

Vivi had no rebuttal for that, so she simply nodded and ventured into the chaos that was Franky’s party. He was dancing onstage with the girls she had noticed earlier, some heavily choreographed routine that many of the audience were joining in, and she smiled. Hopefully the shipwright’s enthusiasm would prove contagious, and a victory against the government would prove to Robin that she didn’t need to worry while she was with them. For now, though, she had to retrieve the money, the waver and dials, and Robin’s book from the ship, and then somehow manage to sleep through this ruckus so they could get up early in the morning to arrange a meeting with Iceburg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A slightly shorter chapter than my usual, but a lot of dialogue and outlining Vivi’s plan to confront CP9. Also some hints at further repercussions of Blackbeard’s influence, the full extent of which will remain a mystery for some time yet, sorry not sorry. I didn’t originally plan for Ace’s parentage to come up until much later, but the way the conversation flowed it fit there, and it’s always funny to have Vivi blurt out things she has no business knowing.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I, uh. I'm really bad at keeping an update schedule. I'm very sorry. The next chapter is mostly written, it should take much less time to post, but I can't promise anything.

Vivi had no idea how she managed to fall asleep with the huge party going on just outside the door of the guest room Franky offered them, but she was exhausted enough it didn’t matter. Sailing the Grand Line was always tiring, though she hoped she’d get used to it again sooner rather than later. The Pirate King’s crew had to be good enough to sail the New World, and Nami told her that the other side of the Red Line was so vastly different that its inhabitants called the Grand Line Paradise. When she woke up, Robin was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, reading a book. It wasn’t the one Vivi had gotten from the ship, which was sitting on a table next to the chair, and she guessed that Franky or one of his gang had brought it to her.

“Good morning, Captain. Did you sleep well?”

Vivi pulled herself out of the bed, which was so stiff she might as well have slept on the floor, and stretched. “I’m rested enough.” She looked at Robin, then at the three cases of money on the floor, and swallowed. “I’m going to visit Iceburg today, and I need you to stay here.”

Robin snapped her book shut and glared. “Absolutely not. CP9 are the most dangerous branch of the Cipher Pols, I’m not letting you go into their midst unprotected.”

This was what Vivi had been worried about, and she sighed. “I know they’re dangerous, and that’s exactly why you can’t go. There’s not much of a chance anyone saw and recognized you last night, but every second you spend outside these walls is a second that CP9 could find you. We can only win with the element of surprise, and if they take you I don’t know if I can get you back. I would try, believe me I would, but we have to be practical. Dying trying to save you is infinitely less preferable than you never being in danger in the first place.”

Robin’s face was impossible to read, but after a long few seconds of silence she nodded. “What’s your plan?”

Vivi looked at her bag, at the clothes within, and then at the mirror. “I need to get one of Franky’s people to buy me some nice clothes and makeup. I’ll go into Iceburg’s office as a socialite looking to commission a ship, get him alone, and tell him what’s going on so he won’t struggle when we kidnap him, which will be either tonight or tomorrow, depending on how long it takes him to ensure that a member of CP9 witnesses the kidnapping.”

“You want them to see us?”

Vivi nodded. “If one of them is there, I can convince them to come after us alone instead of at the head of a mob of villagers, which is what needs to happen for me to blackmail their boss.”

Robin accepted that with a slow nod, and Vivi rolled her shoulders back and left the guest room. It didn’t take long to find one of Franky’s people, one of the women with enormous square hair who was dancing with Franky the night before.

“Excuse me, miss, could I ask you a favor?”

She looked incredibly hungover, but after a second she recognized Vivi. “You’re one of the girls bro brought in last night, aren’t you? The mysterious benefactors who are helping his dream come true?” Vivi nodded, wondering if this meant Franky had changed his mind about building the Sunny for them, and the woman smiled. “The name’s Kiwi. What do you need?”

“I need a nice dress, preferably short with a low neckline, and foundation thick enough to cover the scars on my face and neck.”

Kiwi looked at her face and winced in sympathy, then nodded. “I can get my hands on a dress like that to fit you. I think I know a place where I can pick up your color foundation, too, but I’ll need to double check with Mozu, she’s always had a better memory for these things.” Vivi pulled out a small wad of cash from a pocket, but Kiwi shook her head. “I’ll get them for you. With all you’ve given our bro, it’s the least I can do.”

Vivi nodded in acceptance, and Kiwi walked away, her enormous hair swaying slightly. She realized she had nothing to do until Kiwi got back, and returned to the guest room to look over her notes again. It was probably a bad idea to keep worrying herself over things she might not be able to change, but she would rather be worried than unprepared.

Robin was still reading the same book when Vivi returned, though apparently she’d found the time to change into a clean set of clothes. “How did it go?”

“A woman named Kiwi is going to get the disguise for me.”

Robin raised an eyebrow. “Disguise?”

Vivi shrugged. “If I’m going to be walking into the lion’s den, I’m making myself as unrecognizable as possible while still blending in. Makeup to cover my scars as best I can, and a dress nice enough to pretend its only purpose isn’t to make sure nobody looks too long at my face.”

Robin seemed to approve, and Vivi smiled. The air of approval faded after a second, and Robin’s focus visibly shifted to Vivi’s meagre belongings. “Would you allow me to look at your notes? I don’t want to be blindsided by anything like this again.”

Vivi’s immediate reflex was to agree, but a nagging worry at the back of her mind made her pause. She didn’t know much about Enies Lobby, but she knew Robin had gone there of her own free will, and she had no idea what had prompted that. She had gotten stronger on Amazon Lily, they both had, but she still wasn’t strong enough to storm one of the World Government’s strongholds. She looked at Robin, breathed, and told herself that if she still didn’t know why, nothing in the notes would make Robin figure it out and abandon her.

“Go ahead. I don’t know why I didn’t ask you to do this earlier, you’re a lot smarter than me. I’m sure you’ll be able to find something that I couldn’t.”

Robin took the notes, and after a moment of hesitation Vivi sat down on the bed next to her chair, reading over her shoulder. This meant she couldn’t see much of Robin’s face, but her body language said that she was feeling a mix of confusion and incredulity.

“Are you absolutely certain that all of this information is correct? Isn’t there a chance your friends exaggerated the events of their travels to make them seem more interesting?”

She seemed to be focused on Marineford at the moment, which was fair. She wouldn’t have believed that Luffy led the second ever prison break in the history of Impel Down and literally fell onto the battlefield if she hadn’t known him beforehand. “The only member of the crew who exaggerates to that extent is Usopp, and it’s usually fairly easy to figure out the truth buried within. If you’re looking at Marineford, though, that’s all pieced together from the papers. They tried to deny the breakout, but it obviously happened, since convicted and imprisoned criminals made up almost the entirety of Star Clown Buggy’s crew once he became a Warlord.”

“I don’t understand how a single man could be so influential.”

Vivi shrugged, smiling. “I don’t know either. It’s just who Luffy is.”

Robin turned the page, and her eyebrows shot up. “Roronoa Zoro trained under Mihawk?”

Vivi nodded, grinning. “He told me that himself. Mihawk all but officially accepted him as his eventual successor. I think he was bored, honestly. There isn’t really anyone else strong enough to even attempt to challenge his title, and Zoro impressed him from the day they met. He’s going to surpass him eventually, we all know it. It’s just a matter of time.” She thought about that for a second. “It’ll be even more time, now, at least from my perspective. He was getting close in the future, and now he hasn’t even lost the first time.”

Robin flipped back a few pages and frowned. “You wrote that he nearly died.”

Vivi nodded again. “Mihawk all but cut him in half, and it made him realize just how far he still had to go. At least, that’s how he put it.” She frowned. “I… when I find him, I’ll have to make sure it happens again. Even if it hurts, it was an important moment in his life, and I can’t take that from him.”

Robin nodded slowly, scanning the notes. “Your friend Nami’s island was taken by a fishman pirate named Arlong, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Arlong was released as part of the deal to make Jinbe a Warlord. If you oust him, it may incur his wrath, and I doubt we are quite ready for that.”

The thrill of Robin referring to herself as part of the crew meant it took a second for Vivi to realize what she said, and she shook her head in response. “Jinbe apologized to Nami for what Arlong did to her island. He didn’t know, and if he finds out he’ll be on our side. If we run into him, I’ll probably tell him myself, and there’s a chance he’ll get Arlong away from Nami before we even meet her.” Not for the first time, she wished it was easier to get in touch with pirates. Transponder snails worked to call ships, but only at a relatively short distance. More than a few islands away, you needed to relay through a dedicated snail station, and that was impossible for anyone but the Marines, Warlords, and Emperors. While Jinbe was in fact a Warlord, their snail numbers could only be obtained by asking in person or formally requesting them from the Marines, and neither of those options was really feasible for them.

“I don’t see anything about why I decided to join Luffy, in your time.”

Vivi pursed her lips. “It’s because I don’t know. I know that you left Alabasta with them, because that’s the only way you could have ended up on their ship, but I don’t know anything beyond that. When you talked about it, you said that you didn’t have a choice after Enies Lobby, and it seemed to be enough of a touchy subject that I didn’t press.” Robin was making a face, and she waved her hands frantically. “I don’t think you meant they forced you to stay! I got the impression that they had just done so much for you at that point you would have felt obligated to stay on the crew even if you didn’t want to.”

Robin nodded, reading on. Her eyebrows shot up when she reached the second to last page, and she looked up again. “You never mentioned that your captain fought Big Mom.”

“Oh, right. Sanji said it was something about his birth family, but he didn’t want to talk about it.” It had honestly been a little disconcerting for Sanji to refuse her anything, but from the looks on Nami and Chopper’s faces it had been serious enough that, at the time, she was happier not knowing. “The most I could glean from various articles is that Sanji was kidnapped to be married off to one of Big Mom’s daughters, because of his birth family’s connections, and in rescuing him Luffy ended up embroiled in a plot to kill Big Mom. It didn’t quite work, but they got away with Sanji, and then they went on to Wano and fought Kaido. Luffy beat him, people started calling him an Emperor, and then he went to the Reverie.”

Robin was visibly impressed, and Vivi smiled. She hoped that she could keep Sanji away from the Vinsmokes entirely this time, because he clearly hadn’t enjoyed the experience, but that was still a long while away. Someone knocked on the door, and she motioned for Robin to hide the notes before calling out.

“It’s open, and we’re both decent.”

Franky slammed the door open, posing, and Vivi rolled her eyes with a smile. She could see why Luffy liked him so much, if he was this ridiculous all the time. “Mozu told me that you asked Kiwi to buy you some things, and that you wanted this super cute dress that they ordered which turned out to be the wrong size.” He tossed a ball of cloth at her, and Vivi caught it and shook it out, letting it hang down. It didn’t hang very far, since it was basically a tube of fabric that would just barely cover enough for her not to be arrested for indecent exposure.

She smiled at Franky. “Please thank them for me, it’s perfect.” He gave her a skeptical look, but shrugged, and plopped himself down on the edge of Vivi’s bed.

“So, tell me your plan so I can tell you whether or not it’ll work.”

Vivi glanced at Robin, almost on reflex, before focusing on Franky. “I’m going to go talk to Iceburg today to tell him that I’m planning on kidnapping him. I could technically skip that step, but I think he deserves to know, and he’s the best person to make sure that a member of CP9 is there to witness the kidnapping, since he’s their boss at the moment. If he’s a willing participant, it will also make it much easier to hide him while we spread the rumor that the World Government is responsible for the attack. We won’t hide too well, a member of CP9 will find us, and Robin and I will force them to give us the snail number of their boss so I can blackmail him into calling off the agents.”

Franky nodded, tapping his chin. “Seems pretty good, but I see a few problems. How are you going to make people blame the World Government? They’re fairly popular around here these days.”

Vivi shrugged. “Robin helped Crocodile turn my country on its rightful king with a few suspicious coincidences and a single overt incident. I don’t think she’ll have a problem.”

Franky raised an eyebrow, but conceded the point. “How are you going to make sure that only one member of CP9 comes looking for you? From how you talk about them, it doesn’t sound like you could take more than one, and if they just decide to search in pairs you’d be screwed.”

Vivi frowned. “I know we can take them one at a time. With Robin’s powers and our haki, I don’t think there’s many people on this side of the Red Line who could fight us solo. If there were two of them, though, I think we could still win. We’d sense them coming, and Robin could take one of them down before they got through the door. It’d be back to two on one, then, and we’d be fine. The only real problem is if all three come at once, but I won’t let us lose, no matter what. We’ll beat them.”

Franky nodded. “One last thing. What is this blackmail you’re so confident in?”

Vivi grinned, and knew that it was more feral than pleased. “I know how dependant the World Government is on stable trade routes to remain functional.”

Robin looked confused, but Franky apparently understood, and laughed. “That’d work, yeah. Alright, you have my approval. I’ll head out to buy the Adam wood on the next train to San Faldo, this afternoon. I won’t be back until tomorrow morning at the earliest, so if you’re planning on pulling this crazy stunt tonight I won’t be here to support you.”

“That might be for the best, honestly. If you’re out of town when it happens, nobody can possibly blame you, and participating in the search will keep CP9 from suspecting you were in on the whole plan.”

Franky nodded, then posed with the backs of his hands pressed together. The stars on his arms were prominently displayed, as were his legs, and Vivi kept her eyes carefully above his chest. “The Franky Family is super happy to help you lovely ladies save ‘ol Ice-for-brains and protect the blueprints Tom handed down. You can count on my men for anything you need, just ask!”

Robin cleared her throat, and Franky thankfully dropped out of his ridiculous pose. “Mr Cyborg, I have a request. Could you warn Mr Mayor that he’s going to be attacked?” Vivi looked at her, confused, and Franky tilted his head.

“Why? If you’re going to kidnap him, don’t you want to do it quietly?”

“Not necessarily. If you warn him, and are off the island when he is attacked, it’s that much less likely suspicion will fall on you. In addition, it will help me convince people that it was the World Government’s doing instead of ours. Don’t mention them outright, but if the World Government has been hounding Iceberg for years, as you said last night, it would be best if you claimed that someone who’s been waiting for a long time is finally making their move. It will also put CP9 on edge, and encourage them to be watching for any attempts on their target’s life, as the Captain said that we wish to be witnessed.”

Franky gave her a thumbs up, grinning like a loon. “You’ve got a super scary mind, Nico Robin. I like it.”

Robin was visibly unsure whether or not to be flattered, and Vivi smiled. Franky was definitely a Straw Hat, and she looked forward to sailing with him. Her smile faltered slightly when she remembered that she still had no idea how to make that happen, and she resolved to ask Iceburg if he had any ideas.

One of the girls with square hair poked her head into the room, and a glance at her outfit told Vivi that it was the one she hadn’t met yet. “Bro, we’re ready to go. The Sea Train is leaving in thirty minutes.”

“Aw crap, it’s that close already? Grab Kiwi and get onboard, I have something to do first.” He pulled a small pair of sunglasses out of his shirt pocket, slipping them on. They looked a lot better on him than Vivi thought they would, and he noticed her approving stare and took it as an opportunity to pose yet again. “Just you wait, girls. I’ve been feeling extra super this week.”

Robin rolled her eyes, though Vivi could tell she was amused, and Franky ran out of the room. The girl, who was probably Mozu now that she thought about it, turned to Vivi and held out a small bag. “Kiwi said you needed makeup?”

“Yes, thank you.” Vivi looked in to see a very nice brand of foundation, and when she opened the jar it matched her skin tone quite nicely. “This is perfect. Thank you very much for your assistance.”

Mozu waved a hand, already heading down the hall after Franky. “If you want to thank me, save the mayor. Bro would never admit it, but he’d be devastated if anything happened to him.”

Robin stood, picked up the book she had been reading when Vivi woke up, and headed for the door. “I think I’ll see if any of Mr Cyborg’s men want to spar. It would be a shame if it turned out I lost my touch from only fighting the same four women for a month.”

Vivi nodded, trusting that Robin would know better than to risk letting anyone outside the Franky Family see her, and took the opportunity to change into the dress Franky brought. It was a little tight in the chest, which would almost certainly work to her advantage, but the fact that it was sleeveless meant that she had to cover her scars much further down her chest than she’d expected. Luckily, wearing bikinis for a month meant that it was much easier than it would have been otherwise to cover tan lines, and despite the severity of the scars, they didn’t spread very far from her face. With a very heavy layer of foundation, she was certain that nobody would notice her skin wasn’t perfectly smooth unless they were already looking for scars, and while that would always be a risk when dealing with professional assassins it was unlikely she’d be able to do much better.

Vivi picked up the remaining briefcase full of money, as Franky had taken all three hundred million offered to buy the ship, and left the Franky House. She couldn’t actually spend any of it, since this was Nami’s money, but for her to get a proper meeting with Iceburg she needed to properly play the part of someone rich enough to deserve to meet him in person, and a case full of cash was the best way to do that. People started staring as soon as she entered the city proper, and she had to remind herself that she planned for every person she passed to leer like that. She doubted that a single one of them would be able to recount her appearance even five minutes from now beyond “dark skin, blue hair, gorgeous”, and that was the simplest form of anonymity she could accomplish.

At the gates of Galley-La, Vivi saw a doorbell, and a few seconds after pressing it a speaker next to the door crackled. “Galley-La Headquarters.”

Vivi smiled wide, just in case there was a visual snail nearby. “Hello, my name is Tamara. I came all the way here from Bylmar because I heard that Water 7 makes the best ships in the world, and I really need a new yacht.”

Bylmar was a prosperous island near Sabaody which had very little contact with its neighbors further back down the Grand Line, but was still close enough that it was plausible a socialite could make her way to Water 7 without too much trouble. It was also far enough away that they wouldn’t be able to check her credentials easily, and in her experience almost all bureaucrats would rather accept a plausible story than put too much effort into verifying it. The speaker crackled again, and she kept her smile sunny.

“Do you have an appointment, Miss Tamara?”

“No. Do I need one? I told my brother I’d be home for his birthday next weekend, so I need to close this deal fast.” She pouted at the speaker, and whoever was on the other side sighed.

“You’re in luck. A hooligan upset the boss just a little while ago, so he cleared his schedule. I should be able to get you in in thirty minutes.” Vivi suspected that said hooligan was Franky, and was pleased that he managed to deliver his warning before leaving.

“Thank you very much, sir.” The gate opened, and Vivi stepped into the grounds. She reached out slightly with her haki, finding Robin at the edge of the city before anyone else solidified. The dock a few hundred yards away was full of strong people, though two of them were in an entirely different league. Those were probably CP9 members, and she could feel another absurdly strong person somewhere in the city behind her. A fourth strong presence was standing in the building ahead, next to a much weaker presence which was tangibly worried. That was almost certainly Iceburg, accompanied by an undercover member of CP9, and Vivi hefted the briefcase and walked up to the front door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things actually start happening soon, I promise.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a month, sorry. My creative muse has been busy with other things, but I'm going to keep trying to drag it back here as frequently as I can.  
> A note: when I first started writing this, the timeline was quite vague, everything coincidentally took the right amount of time to happen, and I planned for Vivi to spend a lot longer on Amazon Lily training. However, over many many drafts, I’ve decided on actual dates for things, and they don't quite match up with what I've posted so far. A few earlier chapters had Vivi imply that there was a little over a year before Luffy set out; technically there is more than a year, but it’s closer to two and a half years between her arrival and his seventeenth birthday, so I’ve adjusted things accordingly and edited any relevant chapters to reflect the new timeframe. I also fixed a few minor capitalization errors in earlier chapters, and will likely fix more over the course of the day, so if the story says it's been edited that's why.

A bored looking desk worker directed Vivi to a waiting area, and she settled the briefcase next to the most comfortable looking chair before sitting down. Keeping her haki focused on the five strongest people on the island, Robin and the CP9 members, she picked up a magazine, mindlessly flipping through the beauty tips and gossip. She stopped when she saw a picture of herself, or rather her other self, and smiled to see Kohza at her side.

The article announced a scoop on the princess’s sixteenth birthday celebrations, specifically that she would formally announce the founding of the Straw Hat Institute of Agricultural and Meteorological Study, located at the former site of Crocodile’s casino. The name was, of course, in reference to the hero who saved their country from the evil ex-Warlord, and the article postulated that if the mysterious Straw Hat ever actually showed their face, they would be accorded every honor Alabasta could provide.

Vivi beamed. Even if it was unlikely Luffy would ever set foot in Alabasta in this timeline, the whole world knew who saved her country now, as it always should have been. She skimmed the rest of the page, mostly gossip about prominent figures from the surrounding islands, and noticed a picture of Luffy’s brother in the corner. The blurb beneath it was from a young woman claiming the newly minted Warlord seduced her on his way to Marineford to accept the position, and that he was a perfect gentleman the entire time, truly befitting his epithet. Vivi snorted, unable to imagine anyone related to Luffy as a womanizer. She felt the strong presence next to Iceburg start moving towards her, and flipped to a random page in the magazine. There was a small quiz, and she busied herself filling out the answers.

When she reached the end of the quiz, proclaiming her as a hopeless romantic who needed to settle down with her true love immediately, the door opened, and a blonde woman with glasses poked her head into the room. “You must be Miss Tamara.”

Vivi stood to greet her, keeping the alarm off her face. She recognized this woman from the posters released after Enies Lobby, but if she hadn’t already sensed how strong she was she wouldn’t have believed it. She looked normal, albeit apparently subscribing to the same school of thought that had prompted Vivi’s outfit. Vivi closed the magazine and set it down, picking up the briefcase before walking forward. She offered Kalifa her hand to shake, smiling. “That’s me. It’s nice to meet you.”

Kalifa shook her hand, and the man at the desk who let Vivi in turned to see them before whistling. “Looking amazing as ever, Kalifa.”

“That’s sexual harassment.” The unfortunate desk worker wilted under her glare, but Kalifa’s face was perfectly professional when she turned back to Vivi. “Mr Iceburg will see you now. Follow me, please.”

Kalifa led her down the hall and up the stairs, and Vivi wondered whether she should be pretending to struggle with the weight of the briefcase. She decided against it, as it would be suspicious if she picked it up with no problem but started to have trouble later. Kalifa barely seemed to have noticed the briefcase at all, but Vivi knew better than to underestimate a professional assassin’s skills. Kalifa probably noted her muscles when they shook hands, and Vivi took a moment to silently berate herself for not putting more effort into hiding her scars. She could only hope that Kalifa didn’t suspect anything yet, and that she wouldn’t until it was too late.

Kalifa knocked sharply on a door before opening it, ushering Vivi into a nice office. Every inch of it was spick and span except for the desk, littered in blueprints and paperwork, and Vivi gave her best winning smile to the man behind it. “You must be Mayor Iceburg.”

“I am. Tamara, was it?” Vivi nodded, and Kalifa directed her to a chair a respectable distance from the desk. She sat down, resisting the urge to tug at the hem of her dress to make sure it covered her butt, and Iceburg shoved aside a stack of papers to make room to rest his elbows on the desk. “What can Galley-La do for you, Miss Tamara?”

“Oh, I want to commission a ship. My brother’s birthday is this weekend, and he keeps talking about how much he loves sailing, so our parents are giving him the family boat to use as he sees fit. This means I’d have to wait for him to be done with it to do anything myself, so I decided to buy my own.”

“Alright then, Miss. What size ship were you thinking of?”

Vivi wanted to start talking about the Sunny, but it didn’t fit with her cover. “Something small. Ideally something I can maneuver myself, but with enough space to bring friends along on trips.”

Iceburg moved to write something down, then rummaged around for a few seconds for a pen. Finding none, he turned to Kalifa, who sighed and offered hers. Seeing an opportunity, Vivi reached to take it from Kalifa and hand it to Iceburg, and pinched hard enough to crack it. Iceburg didn’t notice, and started sketching on a spare sheet of paper. “It’s certainly possible to make something that small and easy to use, but it would cost significantly more than the usual going price for such a vessel to be capable of withstanding the weather of the Grand Line.”

Vivi nodded. “It doesn’t need to be that strong. I’m not planning on sailing out even enough to lose sight of the coast. I just like the sea breeze and the rocking of the waves.” Iceburg smiled, writing more. “What kind of price range will this be?”

“It depends on how many amenities you want to add, Miss. You’ve said you don’t need the ship to be capable of withstanding the full wrath of the ocean, but there’s still a long list of improvements and features to consider. As it is now, a plain boat like the one you’re looking for will cost around 70 million Beris.”

Vivi smiled, tapping the briefcase. “That’s fine. I have a budget of a hundred million for this, so I can afford a few features.”

Iceburg smiled back, and to Vivi’s surprise and delight it seemed to be more at the prospect of creating a fantastic ship than the idea of making money. “That kind of money will buy you a good number of features. A few million extra can also make it a rush job, and we’ll have it done for you in time for your brother’s birthday.”

“That fast?” Vivi didn’t have to fake her shock, but before Iceburg could reply he tapped the pen on his desk. It snapped, spilling ink everywhere, and in a flash Kalifa was at the desk, mopping up as much as she could. It was too little too late, though, and more to the point Iceburg’s suit jacket was splattered with thick black ink. Kalifa glared at it in disapproval, and Vivi did her best to look mortified.

“That will need to be washed immediately, or the stain will never come out.”

Iceburg frowned, picking at the sleeve. “I like this jacket.”

Kalifa rolled her eyes in exasperation and started undoing the buttons, causing Iceburg to blush beet red. Before he could say anything, she manhandled the jacket off of her boss, folding it over her arm carefully to avoid spreading the ink. “I’ll have it dry cleaned.” She slipped out the door, not even caring that Iceburg was still a stammering mess at being forcibly disrobed by his secretary, and Vivi waited until the door closed and she could feel Kalifa on the stairs to drop the act.

“I don’t know how long it will be until she gets back, so I need you to listen carefully.” Iceburg went from flustered to serious faster than Vivi thought possible, and she swallowed. “Kalifa is a member of CP9, sent here by the government to work undercover for you and eventually steal the plans for the ship to counter the ancient weapon Pluton. Three other members of CP9 are on the island, also undercover, and my friend and I are going to get rid of them.”

“What?”

Vivi ignored his confusion, focused more on keeping track of Kalifa. “I need you to take Franky’s threat seriously. Ask one of the undercover CP9 agents to stay with you tonight, for your protection. I don’t know all three of their names, but two of the agents are in one of your construction docks right now, so the names Lucci and Blueno should ring a bell.” Iceburg’s jaw dropped, and Vivi nodded. “I’ll take that as confirmation. Have one of them with you tonight. My friend and I will come here to kidnap you, and incapacitate the agent when he comes running to help. We’ll let him think we’re after the weapon as well, so when he tells his coworkers what’s happened, they’ll come looking for us separate of the rest of the concerned citizens.”

Iceburg’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly, and Vivi felt Kalifa turn around.

“Midnight tonight. I’m going to have to pretend to hurt you, so they believe the ruse, and I’ll need you to play along. I swear you’ll be safe, and by the time this is all over CP9 and the government will never bother you again. Kalifa is on her way back, I need you to act like nothing happened and we’re just discussing the ship.” He didn’t move, still stunned, and she frowned. “Please, mayor.”

That seemed to snap him out of his fugue, and Iceburg slumped. “I can’t believe this. Is Franky helping you?”

“Only tangentially. We agreed that it would be safer for him to be off the island while everything goes down, so nobody can suspect him of anything.”

Iceburg nodded, and composed himself. “Well, am I to assume that you don’t need a ship after all?”

“I do, but not this one.”

Iceburg smirked. “Signal me when Kalifa gets close, and play along. I’ll make sure she doesn’t see anything suspicious about this.”

Vivi waited until she could feel Kalifa at the top of the stairs, then nodded. Iceburg’s expression turned disappointed, and he started shuffling papers, reorganizing his desk in some obscure manner. “I’m certain we can come to an arrangement, Miss Tamara. Using recycled wood will certainly bring the cost down, though there will be a small additional fee for the dismantling of the damaged ship, but I’m afraid that in that case we won’t be able to begin construction for at least another month.”

Vivi nodded, picking up the hint. “The extra features will be worth it. I don’t mind waiting the extra month if it gets me everything I wanted and more within my budget, though I wouldn’t mind a sketch of the final product to show off to my brother.”

Iceburg shook his head. “I’m afraid that, with how unpredictable reclaimed wood can be, I won’t be able to put anything to paper until I see the materials. I can draw up a list of the features we’ve agreed to, if you’d like.”

Vivi thought for a second, keeping herself as composed as possible when Kalifa opened the door. “I don’t think so, no. My brother would think I made it all up. It’ll be much more satisfying to keep him guessing.”

Iceburg nodded, smiling. “I understand the feeling. I had a brother myself.” He started to look melancholy, and turned to Kalifa. “Ah, you’re back. Miss Tamara has decided to go for our repurposed wood discount, and will be returning next month with the ship. If you could make an appointment for her and see her out, I’d like to talk to you about something in private.”

Kalifa nodded, and Vivi stood, grabbing the briefcase. Kalifa led her back towards the stairs, flipping through her omnipresent clipboard. When Iceburg’s office door closed behind them, she glanced at Vivi. “How long have you had that scar, if you don’t mind my asking?”

Vivi stumbled for a moment, terrified. She should have known the makeup wouldn’t be enough, CP9 were the best in the business. Despite her reassurances to Franky, she wasn’t sure if she could win in a one-on-one fight with one of their elite unarmed. “Excuse me?”

“The scar on your face and shoulder. It’s covered quite well, you only really slipped up on the side of your neck.”

She didn’t sound hostile, only curious, and Vivi swallowed. She cast about for a believable lie, and ran through everything she knew of Bylmar’s culture and history in her head. “My family bought an electric generator when I was younger, and I slipped away from my nanny to play with it. The doctors said I was lucky to survive.”

Kalifa nodded, eyes flicking up and down the length of the scar. “With a wound like that, you are.”

She laughed weakly. Hopefully, the makeup covered it well enough that the agent couldn’t tell that the wound was barely a month old, not several years. “Well, we’ve all been very careful around electricity ever since, and I barely even feel it anymore. I don’t usually try to cover it, everyone knows me back home, but I’m not fond of being stared at, so I try to keep it hidden when I leave the island.”

Kalifa nodded, and pulled out a pencil to tap a page on her clipboard. “Mayor Iceburg has two appointment slots available next month. The twelfth at five in the morning, and the nineteenth at noon. I would suggest the twelfth, as Mr Iceburg’s rescheduling decisions tend to happen most frequently after his morning coffee.”

“I’ll take the twelfth, then.” Vivi wondered exactly what Iceburg was doing that took up so much of his time, and Kalifa seemed to read her mind even as she wrote something down on her clipboard.

“The Mayor regularly cancels appointments on busy days if he “doesn’t feel like it”. Those appointments are then rescheduled for the next available time, and so all days quickly become busy days.” She sighed, flipping the pages back to their original position and tucking her pencil behind her ear. “For all his scheduling faults, however, the mayor is a brilliant shipwright, company president, and leader. We would accept no other.”

She sounded exasperatedly fond, and Vivi realized that she had almost forgotten for a moment there that Kalifa was a trained government assassin who would kill her if she knew even a fraction of what she was planning. They reached the lobby, Kalifa held the door open, and Vivi stepped through, turning to wave at the desk worker.

“Try to be here five minutes before your appointment. The mayor is a very busy man.”

Vivi nodded, and Kalifa let the door fall shut. Vivi felt her go back up the stairs, heading for Iceburg’s office, and double checked that the other three CP9 members were still where she last felt them. The two in the dock had moved slightly, but the one in town hadn’t budged at all, and she headed out into the city, keeping her route away from the agents. None of them left their workplaces as she made her way down the city streets, and when she finally reached the Franky House, she let the focus drop, sighing at the release of pressure.

The building was much quieter than it had been the night before, and a good portion of the gang were playing cards around a slapdash table in the middle of the room. The one who had greeted her and Robin at the door looked up and waved, putting his cards down to yell at her.

“Hey, lady! Your friend is in the lounge, back there.” He pointed to a door, and Vivi waved her thanks. She went to their room first, dropping off the briefcase before heading to the bathroom. Washing off the makeup took longer than usual, given how thickly she had applied it and how much skin was covered, but when she was satisfied she went back to the room, picked up her Peacock Slashers, and went to find Robin.

She found her in what was apparently the lounge, though it looked more like someone had repeatedly gone dumpster diving for couches. Robin was sitting in an armchair, reading a book, and didn’t even look up when Vivi entered the room. “How did it go?”

“As well as could be expected. Iceburg knows we’re coming, he’ll have a member of CP9 there for us, and if his secretary suspected anything amiss she didn’t show it. She noticed my scars, though I don't think Iceburg did so the makeup wasn't completely pointless, but I think I convinced her I'm harmless.”

Robin frowned, closing her book. “His secretary is CP9?” She nodded, and Robin’s frown deepened. “They’re masters of deception. If you're wrong and she made you, there’s no way you would have noticed, and we could be walking into a trap tonight.”

Vivi sighed, running a hand through her hair. “We can’t walk into a trap. I don’t know if you’ve really looked around with your haki yet, but the CP9 members are the strongest people on this island by a wide margin. I can sense them literally a mile away. If they’re waiting for us, we’ll know.”

“And if they are?”

Vivi bit her lip. She didn’t really have a backup plan. “I don’t know. You should be fast and strong enough to take one of them down before we’re noticed, and then it’ll be three on two. I’ve been working on getting armament into my slashers, and from what Aphelandra and Marguerite said it’ll always be stronger and easier to use when I’m actively protecting the people I care about.” Robin looked away, and Vivi hid a smile. “The two of us can take down four elite government agents, I’m sure of it. I’d still rather that we not need to fight, but if it comes down to it I have faith in us.”

Robin didn’t respond, and Vivi looked closer at her book. To her surprise, it was a dictionary, but when she looked closer she saw that her notes were tucked between the pages. Presumably, Robin had been reading through them and wanted to be discreet about it, though if that was the case she probably should have chosen something other than a dictionary.

“It’s been over an hour. Are you still looking over those notes?”

Robin looked back to the book, opening it and pulling out the loose paper. “Mr Cyborg’s subordinates stopped wanting to spar after the third one was slammed into the ground, and these are fascinating. To think that these incredible things happened to anyone, much less myself in a different life, is astounding. I thought that, if we’re to be travelling together for so long, I might as well read up on what’s to come.” She looked at Vivi out of the corner of her eye, smirking. “I don’t particularly enjoy surprises.”

Vivi knew that was a dig at her forgetful nature, and winced. “I really am sorry. It’s why I wrote those notes, honestly. I didn’t want to risk forgetting anything important.”

Robin nodded, looking down. “Where do you plan to have us go once we leave here? Assuming you manage to convince Mr Cyborg to build you this ship.”

Vivi remembered that she wanted to write down all the special features everyone told her about on the Sunny. “Well, it’s October, so there’s still over two years before Luffy turns 17 and sets sail. I guess we’ll go to the Florian Triangle, since it’s so close.”

Robin flipped through the notes. “That’s where the musician is, correct?” Vivi nodded. “The musician whose shadow was taken by the Warlord Gecko Moria.” Vivi nodded again, and Robin sighed. “I hope you realize that I will not be able to defeat this Warlord by leaving a tip with the authorities. Do you have a plan?”

Vivi pursed her lips. “Not exactly. On the bright side, we don’t have to fight Moria, just free Brook’s shadow. We can leave after that, it’s really the only thing we need.” She paused, remembering the last few additions to her notes. “There’s also a sword there that I think Zoro will want, but I’m pretty sure it’s with Brook’s shadow, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

Robin nodded, switching to the page where she’d written that down, and looked back up. “How do you free a shadow?” Vivi opened her mouth, then closed it, and Robin sighed. “You have no idea, do you?”

Vivi groaned, flopping down onto the nearest couch. It practically engulfed her, it was so soft, and she struggled for a moment to pull herself out enough to sit normally. “I didn’t exactly think I needed to ask. Moria was killed during the war at Marineford, and I didn’t need to know any specifics of how they got Brook’s shadow back at the time. I might have asked later, but I only got to spend one night with them before I came here. There wasn’t enough time for them to tell me everything I missed.”

Robin raised an eyebrow, glancing down at the notes. “They seem to have told you an awful lot.”

Vivi wiggled a hand side to side. “Not really? I know what happened to them in East Blue, because I sailed with them for weeks and there was plenty of time to talk. I know all about Chopper and Laboon, because I was there for that stretch of the journey. Luffy told me everything about Skypiea, Franky and Brook talked a little about how they joined the crew, and I pieced together a lot from the papers. I have no idea about anything that doesn’t fall into one of those categories, though. I didn’t know that Franky and Iceburg were connected at all, I had no idea about the blueprints, and there’s no telling what else I never had a chance to ask about.”

With luck, there wouldn’t be any huge surprises on Thriller Bark, but Vivi knew that was too much to hope for. All Brook talked about was Laboon and his shadow, and Nami complained a lot about Absalom, but she knew better now than to underestimate a Warlord. She was momentarily distracted by the happy thought that Crocus wouldn’t need to defend Laboon from Baroque Works, in this timeline, before forcing herself to focus on the more immediate future.

“We’ll figure something out for Brook later. For now, is everything ready for tonight?”

Robin sighed, closing her eyes. “I asked Mr Cyborg’s men to get us masks, to further encourage CP9 to think we are competing professionals. I have also rented a hotel room in a discreet area, so we have somewhere to stay while waiting for them to come to us. I assumed you wouldn’t want us to draw suspicion upon the Franky Family.”

Vivi nodded, and the thought of masks made her think of an additional detail they could add to the charade. She stood up, which took far more effort than it should have due to the couch, and stretched. “Do you know how to make a squib?”

Robin smirked. “Why of course, Miss Princess. This should be interesting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: the beginnings of Vivi vs CP9! It's honestly one of my favorite confrontations I've come up with for her, not counting the metaphorical final boss fights. I hope it takes less than a month to get it to you.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should never have taken this long to update this story, and I'm very sorry about that. Motivation to write has been low for a while, but no matter how long it takes, I'm always going to come back to this story. As a note, I realized that the blueprints Franky had were actually not for Pluton itself, but a weapon of comparable strength, and have gone back to previous chapters and made minor changes to correct this. It has no bearing on the plot of the story, just a small correction.

When the sun finally set, Vivi and Robin left the Franky House and walked up through the city to the Galley-La Headquarters. Vivi kept up a stream of chatter about the articles she’d read in the magazine earlier, and anyone who noticed them quickly assumed that two young women gossiping were nothing remarkable. When they were only a few blocks away from their destination, Vivi reached out with her haki, and once she grounded herself on Robin’s presence she cast out for the four strongest people on the island. Two of them were in town, one of whom appeared to be the same one she sensed there during her meeting with Iceburg. The other was one of the presences from the dock, leaving Kalifa and the other dock worker in the mayor’s office, standing right in front of him.

Vivi froze, and Robin outwardly relaxed as she tensed and prepared to fight. “What is it, Captain?”

“Kalifa and another member of CP9 are in Iceberg’s office.” Robin frowned and closed her eyes for a few seconds. Vivi could feel heartbeats at close range, but Robin was much better at observation haki than her, and sure enough a few seconds later she opened her eyes. “The agents are suspicious, but not malicious. The mayor should be safe.”

Vivi sighed in relief. She didn’t know if she’d be able to live with herself if her efforts got Iceburg killed. He was innocent, and the rightfully elected leader of a city-state to boot. She couldn’t remember whether or not she saw him at the Reverie, but she hadn’t had time to interact with every other royal there, so even if he had been there she didn’t have a chance to talk to him. She was certain he had some wonderful stories, given his proximity to Luffy for a fair amount of time, and regretted that she’d never get to hear any of them now. She cleared her head of melancholic thoughts and felt around, closing her eyes until she was focused enough to be certain that nobody was close enough to a window to be looking in their direction.

“Let’s go.”

Vivi let her observation haki slip away as soon as they entered the building, focusing instead on maintaining energy for the trial to come. Robin had to pull her back behind several corners right before concerned and wary employees turned guards walked past. When they were a floor below the mayor’s room, Robin shoved open a door and pulled Vivi into an abandoned office. Vivi could feel her heartbeat speed up even without haki, and her eyes narrowed.

“What’s wrong?”

“The secretary is moving.” Her voice was barely a whisper, and she put a hand over Vivi’s mouth to prevent her from responding. Vivi belatedly remembered Robin’s expression when she first mentioned CP9, and the only emotion she could pin to it was fear. She thought over all the planning they’d done, and how little Robin contributed to it, and realized that her friend was probably terrified right now. Despite that, after her initial suggestion to flee the island and never look back, Robin had been nothing but supportive of her. It struck her again how wrong she had been about Robin, that night. Now that she’d spent some time with her, she couldn’t even imagine her turning on someone she called a friend, and her stomach lurched at the reminder that she  _ did _ , somehow. Something made Robin turn on the crew on Water 7, probably something to do with CP9, and it terrified her.

Robin, not privy to Vivi’s convoluted thoughts, held her breath and waited. Vivi reached out with her own haki, feeling Robin’s pounding heart next to her before reaching out and finding Kalifa barely ten feet away. The click of her heels on the floor came through the door, muffled, and Vivi held her breath too as the secretary walked past. Kalifa’s heartbeat was a little faster than a standard resting rate, but it didn’t feel like the heartbeat of someone concerned or suspicious. Of course, an elite secret agent could probably regulate their heartbeat, but would she bother when there was nobody around to watch her? Or were they already discovered, and Kalifa was half a second away from kicking the door down and attacking them?

The heels faded, Kalifa took the stairs down, and Robin started to breathe again. Vivi sighed, trying to calm down, and Robin closed her eyes. “She’s annoyed, and so is the agent above us. I suspect they don’t think the mayor has anything to fear, and that they’re wasting their time.”

Vivi smiled. “That’s good. Which way from here?”

Robin closed her eyes and crossed her arms, muttering something in a foreign language. Vivi suspected it had something to do with eyes, because if she pushed with her haki, she could feel them growing all over the hallways and windowsills, peeking in corners and blinking once or twice before vanishing. “We need to get into the room directly above us, but there’s an agent sitting just outside the bedroom door. We’ll have to come in through the window, and time it carefully to avoid the patrol outside noticing us.” Vivi nodded, and Robin stared out the window for a few seconds before opening it. “Hurry.”

A ladder of arms grew out of the wall, and Vivi realized how bizarre her life was that this wasn’t even the first time she’d climbed a ladder of limbs. An arm grew on the inside of the sill to open the window, and she slipped through, landing carefully to minimize noise. The arm within pulled the window shut again before vanishing with its fellows, and Vivi was left alone with Iceburg, staring at her with wide eyes. She brought a finger to her lips, shushing him, and he nodded slowly, pursing his lips to prevent himself from asking the questions he undoubtedly had. She could feel the agent just outside, still as a statue in his chair, and the less noise they made the better. She pushed Iceburg towards the bed, motioning for him to get under the covers, and he complied, still visibly confused. The window slid open again, and Robin slunk in, the sash closing behind her with the help of another arm which immediately dissolved into petals.

Robin tapped her face, and Vivi pulled her mask out of the bag at her hip, tossing it to Robin. She pulled on her own next, tying the ribbon at the back of her head before pulling the hood of her jacket up to hide her hair. Her vision was slightly obstructed by the small eyeholes, so she used her haki to compensate, handing a pair of squibs to the newly sprouted trail of hands so they could be placed under Iceburg’s clothes. He stared at Robin, eyes even wider than earlier, and Vivi waited until the hands dissolved and Robin took her place at the end of the bed to let herself slip back into the persona she left behind on Whiskey Peak years ago.

“Good evening, Mayor Iceburg.” He looked confused, and Vivi didn’t feel the man outside moving yet, so she raised her voice slightly. “I don’t suppose you’ll tell us where to find them peacefully and let us on our merry way?”

The agent started to stand, and Vivi nodded to Robin. Iceburg glanced between them and swallowed. If Vivi didn’t know better, she’d say he really was scared for his life. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The blueprints, of course. A little birdy told me-” Someone kicked down the door and lunged for her, moving almost faster than Vivi could see. Of course, it wasn’t anywhere near fast enough to combat observation haki, and as long as Robin could see someone she could kill them. Arms grew all over his body, restraining him, and Vivi winced under her mask.

“Clutch.” The arms tensed, but nothing happened, and the man grinned. Vivi felt Robin stiffen, but the man was still unable to move, and she grew at least a dozen more arms. “Captain, if you would?”

It took Vivi a second to understand, but she remembered the first time she successfully used haki, and stepped away from Iceburg. “I’d apologize for the pain, but I really don’t care.” She touched one of the arms and imbued it with haki, focusing on her determination that this man and his comrades would never be allowed to hurt Robin, or Water 7, ever again. The arm turned black, and to Vivi’s surprise the blackness spread like paint over the neighboring arms. The agent’s smile faltered, and she almost wished he could see her face so she could meet his eyes and let him know exactly how much she despised him and everyone else who sought to harm her friends. All of Robin’s arms were pitch black within seconds, and she crossed her arms again.

“Clutch.”

The arms pulled, and a hand appeared over the agent’s mouth just in time to muffle his scream of pain. Vivi heard multiple cracks, presumably various bones, and stepped away, letting the haki fade. “Any second thoughts, Mr Iceburg?”

He shuddered, staring at Robin, and Vivi rolled her eyes under the mask. “Did anyone hear that?”

“Not that I can tell, but there’s a check-in due in five minutes, and people will come looking when this one doesn’t report.”

Vivi sighed, and turned back to Iceburg. “That means you have four minutes to tell us where to find the blueprints, or we have to get creative. Believe me, Mr Iceburg, when I say that you don’t want us to get creative.” Robin grew a hand to pat him on the cheek, and he flinched away. The agent groaned, reaching towards him, and Vivi laughed. “Aww, look, the puppy is worried for its master. Oh, there’s a thought.” She turned to Iceburg, glad for the mask that kept her from having to keep her face in check. “What if we hurt the puppy some more? Would you tell us then?”

A pigeon flew into the room, and Vivi stared at it for a moment. It landed next to the agent to peck at his face, and she almost got the impression it was worried. After a second, it turned to Iceburg and opened its beak, from which a man’s voice emerged. “Run, mayor.”

To her surprise, Iceburg actually started to get up, and Vivi stepped over to the edge of the bed, grabbing him by the shoulder to push him down. “Now, now, we can’t have that.” She pulled the gun she’d found in the Franky House, and stuck in into the squib under his shirt while haki spread to cover him from her hand. “We still need you to talk, after all.”

The gunshot rang through the room, and Iceburg fell flat on the bed. Blood soaked his shirt and the sheets around him, and Vivi picked up the crumpled bullet under the pretense of checking the wound.

“Good, I seem to have missed the vital organs. If you talk now, this is the worst you’ll get. I’m sure the doctors here will be more than able to patch you up, Mr Iceburg.”

Luckily, the look of surprise on Iceburg’s face wasn’t visible from the agent’s position on the floor, and the disgust in his voice was admirable for someone who knew this was all an act. “Go to hell.”

She shrugged, stuffing the gun back into her waistband. “If that’s how you’re going to be, then I guess it’s time to get creative.” She dragged Iceburg off of the bed and towards the window, pulling it open with her free hand. She shoved him half out before turning to Robin, tilting her head. “Do what you want to the poor puppy there, and meet up with us later. I trust you’ll be able to get there on your own?”

The other three CP9 agents weren’t in the building, and nobody present was anywhere near strong enough to pose Robin a challenge. “Have some faith, Captain.”

Vivi jumped out the window, pulling Iceburg behind her. The fall wasn’t enough to injure her, especially when her landing was cushioned by bushes, and when she dragged Iceburg out with her they were immediately surrounded by furious guards.

“Drop the mayor and surrender, fiend!”

Vivi pulled the gun back out, coated Iceburg in haki again, and shot him in the foot. The second squib burst, and he winced at the expected pain before his body registered that it didn’t hurt at all. She pointed the gun at his head, and the guards turned pale. “Any takers?” She took a step forward, dragging Iceburg with her, and when nobody stopped her she kept going. The gun stayed on Iceburg’s head until they reached the gate, at which point Vivi picked him up and jumped on top of the wall encircling the grounds. Another jump put her through the window of an empty building, and from there it was a quick trip up the stairs to the roof. The buildings were close enough together that jumping between them was easy, and when she was confident she’d been seen heading towards the docks Vivi slipped into a stairwell and finally set Iceburg down.

“Are you alright?”

He took a moment to answer, clearing his throat in a way that almost reminded her of Igaram. “I think so. What did you do to me? I know that gun fired, why am I not hurt?”

“It’s called haki.” She bit her tongue before she could say who taught her, because Hancock asked them not to tell anyone. “I coated you in a force stronger than iron, and the bullets crumpled before they could hit you. It’s also what I used to let Robin break through the agent’s defenses. He might have been using haki as well, but it was a weaker form, as mine was able to overpower it.”

Iceburg’s breath hitched, and she looked at him. “Lucci. His name is Rob Lucci, he’s one of my best men.”

“And he’s an undercover agent for CP9, sent here to steal blueprints and kill you. Robin won’t be unnecessarily cruel, she just needs to make sure he’s thoroughly out of commission so we have one fewer agent to deal with later.” She heard shouting nearby, and pulled off her mask, dropping it in her bag before wiggling out of her jacket. “Take off your socks, and put these on.” He stared at her, and she handed him the jacket and a pair of shoes. “I had to guess at your size, but these should fit. Everyone is looking for a masked woman and the mayor, who they all saw shot in the foot. Two nondescript people who are both walking normally won’t attract any attention.”

He fished around under his shirt to pull out the burst squib, scowling at the fake bloodstain. “I liked this shirt. It’s soft.”

Vivi rolled her eyes, taking the squib and putting it in the bag next to her mask. She did the same with the second squib and the ruined socks, once Iceburg removed them, unwilling to leave behind any evidence of the deception. “I asked Robin if we could use something that would wash out, but she insisted that proper assassins know what fake blood looks and smells like, so we got some pig’s blood from a butcher. I realize your clothing doesn’t have the best track record with me at the moment, but I’d like to think I haven’t done any more damage than was absolutely necessary. In any case, I think I’d rather you lose a shirt and jacket than your life.”

“Why?” She stared at him, and Iceburg stared back. “Why do you care so much about me? There’s any number of ways you could have prevented CP9 from getting the blueprints without this charade, why are you putting so much effort into keeping me safe?”

Vivi’s mouth opened and closed several times before she could figure out how to respond to that. “Why wouldn’t I?” She felt someone enter the building and start moving up the stairs, so Vivi grabbed at the hood on Iceburg’s jacket and pulled it up over his head. “Don’t say anything, hide your face as much as possible. We need CP9 to come looking for us, you can’t be found yet.”

He grumbled, but pulled at the strings to close the hood further. They made it three floors down before the searchers entered the stairwell, and Vivi looped her arm around Iceburg’s. Someone looked up and shouted, and within a few seconds there were three people staring up at them. Only one was armed, and thankfully the gun was pointed at the ground.

“Identify yourself!”

Vivi’s first instinct was to answer, but a normal citizen probably wouldn’t be mindlessly compliant when presented with an armed search party. “Excuse me? What’s going on?”

“The mayor has been kidnapped!”

Vivi gasped, letting go of Iceburg to put both hands to her mouth. “That’s terrible! Who would do such a thing?”

The woman with the gun shrugged, and the man who’d asked her to identify herself glanced around before looking back up at her. “There are rumors going around that it was the World Government.”

“Gary!” The woman looked horrified, and he glared at her.

“Look, everyone’s thinking it, right? Franky might be an idiot, but he warned the mayor this morning that someone was gunning for him who’d been at it a while, and he believed him enough to ask everyone to be on guard tonight. That has to count for something, and the World Government are the only people who keep coming back after being refused.”

Vivi was pleased to know that dissent was already spreading, whether or not Robin had a hand in it yet, and took a step down. Iceburg didn’t move, and Vivi pulled at his elbow to coax him forward. “Is there anything we can do to help find him?”

“Be out and about looking, I guess. The kidnapper escaped by running along the roofs, but we lost track of her, so we’re checking buildings to see where she might have gone. Practically the whole town is on the streets, I’m sure you can find someone to point you where we need more men.”

“We’ll get right to it.” Vivi jogged down the stairs to the ground floor, Iceburg a few steps behind her. Gary and his friends passed them heading up, and thankfully none of them looked too hard at Iceburg, who Vivi could feel was more tense than ever. As they headed out to the street, Vivi prayed that they hadn’t left any incriminating stains at the top of the stairs where Iceburg removed the squibs.

“Where are you taking me?”

Vivi realized she had gotten a little turned around during the dash across the rooftops, and no longer had any idea where she was going other than a vague direction. “We rented a hotel room to hide out in until CP9 find us, in the lowest level of the city. The Rosewood Hotel, I think?”

Iceburg was quiet for a moment, then inclined his head towards an alley. “There’s a shortcut down this way.” Vivi hesitated, and the mayor rolled his eyes. “The longer we take to get there, the more likely it is we’ll be found.”

Vivi bit her lip, unsure, but Iceburg knew the city better than she did. “Alright. Lead the way.”

They stayed quiet as they walked, and Vivi used the silence to focus on her haki. She could feel Robin jumping across rooftops in the opposite direction she took Iceburg, which would hopefully help throw the citizens off their scent. One CP9 agent, the strongest now that she had a moment of peace to compare them, was inside Iceburg’s mansion while the other three roamed the city, though thankfully none of them were near her. One was leaping across rooftops along the path she laid towards the docks, going faster than she thought possible, and she remembered how much difficulty Robin had in snapping Lucci’s spine. Was it weak haki, or did the CP9 agents know some secret techniques that made them stronger? She sensed a group of people getting dangerously close, which startled her out of her musings, and she turned to Iceburg with a hiss.

“Pull your hood tight again.”

He cocked an eyebrow, but obeyed, and Vivi schooled her expression into something neutral before they turned the corner and came face to face with a group of five people in their pajamas holding swords.

“Oh my goodness!” She jumped a little, for added effect, and the woman at the head of the group narrowed her eyes.

“Who are you, and what are you doing out this late?”

“Who are you, and what are you doing swinging swords around in public? Someone could get hurt!” She let her voice crack on the last word, putting a hand to her chest and trying her damndest to keep attention away from Iceburg. She and Mr 9 pulled a similar routine when they were first paired together, her distracting the mark so they didn’t notice his bat until it was an inch away from their face. It worked just as well without a hidden assassin in the wings, and the woman lowered her sword guiltily, looking down the street Vivi and Iceburg came from.

“Sorry, can’t be too careful tonight. Someone’s kidnapped the mayor, the whole city’s on high alert.”

Vivi gasped, stumbling back into Iceburg, who barely managed to stop them both from falling over. “Who could do such a thing?”

“We don’t know, but we’re going to make them pay. Keep an eye out, miss, and if you see anyone suspicious call for help.”

The woman looked murderously furious, and Vivi had to fight to keep her expression in line with a concerned citizen. “I most certainly will. Go, find that despicable criminal, save the mayor.”

The woman saluted her before lifting her sword and continuing down the street, followed closely by her four companions. When they were a block away, Vivi started walking again, Iceburg stepping in front of her a moment later to lead the way.

“You’re a fantastic actress, Miss Tamara.”

It took her a moment to remember the fake name she gave him earlier, and another to decide he didn’t need to know her real name just yet. “I’ve had practice.”

“How did you know they were coming? I didn’t hear anything until after you told me to put my hood up.”

“It’s another type of haki called Observation. It lets me sense where people are, and a bit of how strong they are. It's how I could tell Kalifa and Lucci were CP9 agents.”

“Could you teach me?”

Vivi prepared to say no, but reconsidered. She and Robin would be gone long before they could figure out how to unlock Iceburg’s haki, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t give him some advice. “I don’t think so, but I’m sure that if you asked around you’d be able to find someone who could. Anyone can use haki, if they train enough, and it could only help if you knew how to defend yourself with sheer willpower.”

He nodded, and Vivi looked up to see the Rosewood Hotel’s dingy sign at the end of the street. She took command, leading Iceburg to the back door to take him up to the third floor room Robin rented. The door was open, as promised, and she locked it behind them, dropping her bag on the bed. Iceburg shed the jacket, and she turned to see him in a bloodstained shirt and pajama pants, looking distinctly out of place.

“Now what?”

Vivi took the gun out of her waistband and set it on the bedside table, reaching out her haki to feel Robin slowly approaching along the outer edge of the island. The CP9 agents were spread out, moving in a distinct search pattern, but it would be hours before any of them got close to the Rosewood Hotel. “We wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I very much enjoy picturing the look on Lucci's face during that entire confrontation. He's so mad that he was overpowered by Nico Robin and a random woman who kept calling him a puppy, you have no idea.  
> Coming up next: Vivi and Robin versus CP9.


End file.
